CORVALLIS, Ore. – Ocean acidification is a complex global problem because of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, but there also are a number of local acidification “hotspots” plaguing coastal communities that don’t require international attention – and which can be addressed now.

A regulatory framework already is in place to begin mitigating these local hotspots, according to a team of scientists who outline their case in a forum article in the journal Science.

“Certainly, ocean acidification on a global level continues to be a challenge, but for local, non-fossil fuel-related events, community leaders don’t have to sit back and wait for a solution,” said George Waldbusser, an Oregon State University ecologist and co-author of the paper. “Many of these local contributions to acidity can be addressed through existing regulations.”

A number of existing federal environmental laws – including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act – provide different layers of protection for local marine waters and offer officials avenues for mitigating the causes of local acidity.

“The localized events might be nutrient-loading or eutrophication issues that can be addressed,” said Waldbusser, an assistant professor in OSU’s College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences. “Communities don’t have to wait for a global solution.”

The commentary article in Science, “Mitigating Local Causes of Ocean Acidification with Existing Laws,” was inspired in part by some of Waldbusser’s work in Chesapeake Bay, which highlighted how increasing acidity in sections of the Chesapeake were exceeding rates that could be explained by increasing carbon dioxide from fossil fuel emission.

Lead authors on the Science forum paper were Ryan Kelly and Melissa Foley of the Stanford University Center for Ocean Solutions.

The scientists point to a recent lawsuit that resulted in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency memorandum outlining the responsibility of individual states to apply federal environmental laws to combat acidification in state waters. As a result, EPA now encourages states to list “pH-impaired” coastal waters where such data exist.

One such example, Waldbusser says, is in Puget Sound, where nutrient-loading from sewage treatment plants has created large plankton blooms that eventually die and contribute to greater acidification.

“When these blooms die and sink to the bottom, they suck the oxygen out of the water,” Waldbusser said. “Low oxygen is the flip side of high CO2. People in the Northwest are starting to become aware of hypoxia and its impacts, but there hasn’t been the same awareness of ocean acidification on a local level.”

Awareness of acidification may be growing. Waldbusser points to work at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Oregon’s Netarts Bay, which monitors ocean water daily for acidification. The northwest oyster industry has been plagued by larval die-offs and ocean acidification may be to blame. The hatchery now takes water from the bay only at certain times of the day when acidification levels are lowest.

The OSU ecologist is also studying naturally occurring counter-balances to acidification, including the role of oyster and clam shells. Commercial oyster shells are typically removed from the water and native oyster populations have plummeted, so there are may be fewer shells in Oregon estuaries than ever before.

“Calcium carbonate shells help neutralize the effects of acidification,” Waldbusser said. “In essence, they are akin to giving the estuary a dose of Tums. We’re trying to determine how much of an impact shells may have and when conditions are corrosive enough to release the alkalinity from those shells back into the water.”

About the OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences: COAS is internationally recognized for its faculty, research and facilities, including state-of-the-art computing infrastructure to support real-time ocean/atmosphere observation and prediction. The college is a leader in the study of the Earth as an integrated system, providing scientific understanding to address complex environmental challenges

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/24/osu-cascades-campus-marks-decade-of-growth/feed/0Tips help you save your food and your doughhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/tips-help-you-save-your-food-and-your-dough/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/tips-help-you-save-your-food-and-your-dough/#commentsTue, 17 May 2011 16:44:28 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=488Americans waste an estimated 14% to 40% of the food produced for their consumption

By Sarah Skidmore, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — Americans waste an estimated 14% to 40% of the food produced for their consumption. It happens in fields, in stores and in your kitchen. That’s bad for the environment and it can be very bad for your wallet.

“Food waste is one of those things that hide in plain sight,” says Jonathan Bloom, author of “American Wasteland,” about food waste. “When it’s really put in front of people, it does surprise them.”

This has all sorts of environmental, social and ethical ramifications. But if you look just at the financial impact on the consumer, that is the equivalent of a family of four tossing $1,500 to $4,000 in the garbage each year. That’s a lot of dough.

Here are a few tips on how to make better use of your food — and money:

PLAN AHEAD: If you buy just what you need, you’ll find yourself wasting less right away.

Try planning out meals for a week at a time. Or shop for a few key meals at a time so you can fix them depending on your preference of the day. While it works for some people to buy everything in one big shopping trip, others find they waste less if they make smaller and more frequent trips.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/tips-help-you-save-your-food-and-your-dough/feed/0Trim and fertilize hedges this time of yearhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/trim-and-fertilize-hedges-this-time-of-year/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/trim-and-fertilize-hedges-this-time-of-year/#commentsTue, 17 May 2011 16:44:02 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=486Tips for healthy hedges from OSU Extension Service horticulturist Ross Penhallegon.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Like overgrown hair, untrimmed hedges may go unnoticed to everyone but the owner. A spring trim will get your hedge back in shape and stimulate new growth.

The best time to trim is after the flush of spring growth – usually late April through early June – depending on your growing season and the vigor of the hedge materials, according to Ross Penhallegon, horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.

“Spring trimming after the growth spurt will help the hedge hold its desired shape longer than pruning before the active growth period,” Penhallegon said.

Trimming also will help make the individual shrubs blend together. Make the bottom wider than the top so that light can reach all the leaves. On older, slower-growing bushes, modify the shape gradually over several years. Some older shrubs may need trimming only about one half inch per year.

Heaths and heathers will need shearing right after they finish blooming, as well. Cut just below the point where the blooms formed. Annual post-bloom trimming will stimulate new growth in the center of small shrubs and keep them compact. Apply a complete fertilizer to keep heathers and heaths healthy and robust.

Later in the spring, apply a nitrogen fertilizer to young hedges. For mature hedges, apply a complete fertilizer, such as a 16-16-16 combination, or a good composted manure once a year.

As June approaches, concentrations of spider mites may appear in hedge foliage. If the leaves develop a gray cast and look dusty, it’s likely that spider mites are present.

To verify that you do have spider mites and not just mildew or dust on your shrub, hold a piece of paper under a branch of the infested shrub. Shake the branch. Tiny brownish-to-reddish specks will fall on the paper. Examine them with a magnifying glass or hand lens. If the spots begin to move, odds are they are mites, Penhallegon said.

Hose the hedge with water in the early morning to help control the spider mites, or apply an insecticidal soap.

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About Garden News from OSU Extension Service: The Extension Service Gardening web page, http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/, links to a broad spectrum of information on Oregon gardening, such as tips, monthly calendars, how-to publications, audio programs, the Master Gardener program and “Northwest Gardeners e-News.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/trim-and-fertilize-hedges-this-time-of-year/feed/0Oregon Humane Society reaches a spay/neuter milestone with Charlie the cathttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/oregon-humane-society-reaches-a-spayneuter-milestone-with-charlie-the-cat/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/17/oregon-humane-society-reaches-a-spayneuter-milestone-with-charlie-the-cat/#commentsTue, 17 May 2011 16:43:22 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=501After three and a half years, Monday marked the 30,000th pet spayed/neutered

“We were expecting it to take six” years, Kris Otteman, OHS director of shelter medicine said in a news release. “Every pet we spay or neuter brings us one step closer to the solving the huge problem of pet overpopulation.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, who faces the challenge of leading Oregon’s economic recovery, will deliver the annual Gov. Tom McCall Memorial Lecture at Oregon State University on Wednesday, May 25.

His talk, “Challenge to Change,” begins at 7 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center. It is free and open to the public.

In his lecture, Kitzhaber will outline how Oregon is taking a different path than the rest of the nation to revitalize its economy by focusing on sustainability and innovation. He will discuss what he calls “the Oregon example” – a way to create a vibrant future by focusing on clean energy and green jobs, while transforming systems such as healthcare and education.

Kitzhaber, 64, is the 37th governor of Oregon. He previously served as governor from 1995 to 2003, and became the first person to be elected to the office three times when he was re-elected to a third term in 2010.

He moved with his family to Oregon at age 11, and graduated from South Eugene High School in 1965. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Dartmouth College, he returned to Oregon to study medicine at the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU). Upon becoming a doctor, he practiced emergency room medicine in Roseburg from 1974 to 1988.

Kitzhaber’s interest in health care public policy, the livelihoods of rural Oregonians and Oregon’s natural heritage compelled him to seek public service. He first won election to the Oregon Legislature in 1978, and served a term in the Oregon House of Representatives. In 1980, he won election to the Oregon State Senate, and served three terms.

The OSU lectureship is named after Tom McCall, who was Oregon’s governor from 1967-75.

This will be Kitzhaber’s second appearance in this lecture series, which continues a tradition of Oregon governors speaking in the series. Other governors who delivered the lecture while in office have included Ted Kulongoski, 2003; Kitzhaber, 1995; and Barbara Roberts, 1991. Former Gov. Bob Straub delivered the 1989 lecture, and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden spoke in 1996.

Notable speakers from different careers have included Washington Post columnists David Broder and William Raspberry; CBS journalists Terry Drinkwater, Richard Threlkeld and Betsy Aaron; Oregon political analyst Floyd McKay; Dennis Dimick of National Geographic magazine; and environmental law attorney and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

When we think about getting enough calcium for our bones, often the first thing that comes to mind is images of milk mustaches.

While milk and other dairy products certainly are good sources of calcium, many people are not aware of the fantastic plant-based sources of calcium or how to add them to their diet.

May is Osteoporosis Prevention Month. Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones and makes them more likely to break.

Those who are thin, are inactive and have poor diets have a higher risk of osteoporosis. Smoking, drinking excess caffeine or alcohol and having a family history of the disease also increase the risk.

Osteoporosis is more common in women than in men. Bone loss speeds up in women after menopause.

Our bodies continue to build bone until about age 30, and then bone loss slowly begins to occur. People with osteoporosis have a higher risk of bone fractures. Hip fractures can cause loss of the ability to live at home, as 33 percent of people with hip fractures need nursing home care.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/pile-on-calcium-rich-vegetables-to-keep-your-bones-healthy/feed/0Oregon BEST announces new consortium to fund researchhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/oregon-best-announces-new-consortium-to-fund-research/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/oregon-best-announces-new-consortium-to-fund-research/#commentsThu, 12 May 2011 22:03:54 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=478Researchers Jason Ideker and David Trejo of OSU to research sustainable cement-based products

By Christina Williams

Sustianable Business Oregon

The Oregon Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center announced Tuesday that a new consortium bringing together businesses and green building researchers has pooled resources and cash to fund two initial projects.

The Sustainable Built Environment Research Constortium, as the 11-member group is called, met last month and selected two research projects, both with potential application in the planned Oregon Sustainability Center building.

The projects are:

• The use of sustainable cement-based products in building components, led by researchers Jason Ideker and David Trejo at Oregon State University.

• Monitoring water use in occupied buildings to inform conservation technology selection, led by Evan Thomas of Portland State University.

The total investment in the two projects by the consortium is $50,000, coming from a pot of money contributed by all consortium members. To join the consortium companies pay $12,000 to $50,000, depending on the type of organization and the level of support each group pays. The money is then used to support research that is beneficial to the collective group.

Johanna Brickman, who was hired last year as program manager for Oregon BEST, said the consortium grew out of conversations she was having with green building industry players that were hungry for new technology.

“They didn’t have the capacity to fund research on their own,” Brickman said. “But coming together provides financial efficiency, and from Oregon BEST’s perspective, it allows us to prioritize where we focus our work.”

The consortium will also provide a testbed for new green building technology by pairing together researchers with companies that are actually building cutting-edge green projects.

The Oregon Sustainability Center, for example, will strive to adhere to the very green requirements put forth by the Living Building Challenge, which will prompt the developers and builders involved to source locally and find new, eco-friendly components.

The consortium’s initial two research projects can be applied in the OSC building, Brickman said, but they will also provide value if the center doesn’t receive the financial backing it needs to move forward.

The group is still open to new members. Current consortium members include:

• Oregon University System, which would be part-owner, with the City of Portland, of the Oregon Sustainability Center.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/oregon-best-announces-new-consortium-to-fund-research/feed/0Scientists, farmers to study climate changehttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/scientists-farmers-to-study-climate-change/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/scientists-farmers-to-study-climate-change/#commentsThu, 12 May 2011 21:58:12 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=476Farmers and scientists in the inland Northwest are launching a $20 million study on how climate change will impact agricultural practices.

Farmers and scientists in the inland Northwest are launching a $20 million study on how climate change will impact agricultural practices.

Nearly 100 researchers and farmers from across the region met Monday at the University of Idaho, where the five-year research program is starting, The Spokesman-Review reported.

“Climate change is one of the challenges that faces the sustainability of agriculture in this region,” said UI professor Scott Eigenbrode, who is leading the project.

Funding for the study comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Temperatures in the area have already risen about 1.8 degrees on average in the past century, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is predicting they will increase another 3.6 degrees by 2050, Eigenbrode said.

Winter precipitation is predicted to increase by 5 percent, but summer rainfall could drop by 5 to 20 percent, he said.

Warmer summer temperatures could spell problems for grains and other crops that will face increased heat and water stress.

Pests such as the cereal leaf beetle, Hessian fly and aphids could become bigger problems in a warmer climate, he said. Pathogens carried by aphids might also be aggravated.

The project team includes more than 30 scientists from UI, Washington State University and Oregon State University.

Sales of cereal grains were worth $1.5 billion to the Pacific Northwest economy in 2009 and accounted for 13 percent of the nation’s wheat crop, according to the project.

The project builds on earlier work done through the Climate Friendly Farming project at WSU as well as the Solutions to Environmental and Economic Problems involving the three universities over the past four decades.

The latter project has promoted seed drilling to reduce soil erosion. It also allows carbon to be reintroduced to the soil, thereby reducing carbon dioxide in the air, a chief component of global warming.

Dick Wittman, a farmer in Culdesac, Idaho, east of Lewiston, is serving on an advisory committee for the research project. He also is a founding member and director of the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association.

“Many are in denial that climate change is even a reality, and many more argue about what is causing it,” Wittman said. “Scientific studies conclusively show increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can’t be ignored.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/scientists-farmers-to-study-climate-change/feed/0OSU named EPA Green Power Pac-10 Conference Championhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/osu-named-epa-green-power-pac-10-conference-champion/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/osu-named-epa-green-power-pac-10-conference-champion/#commentsThu, 12 May 2011 21:49:07 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=473OSU purchased more renewable energy than any other school in the Pac-10

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has been named the Pacific-10 Conference champion in the EPA Green Power Partnership’s 2010-11 College and University Green Power Challenge.

OSU purchased more renewable energy than any other school in the Pac-10 (now the Pac-12), with 51,595,400 kilowatt hours of green power purchased and used. OSU has been the Pac-10 champion every year since the 2007-08 school year.

“We’re glad to see the competition heating up as more and more colleges and universities join the Green Power Challenge,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “This year’s schools used more than 1.5 billion kilowatt hours of green power, cutting harmful emissions from our air, protecting health and driving demand in the clean energy market.”

Two other Oregon schools made the EPA’s list, including Southern Oregon University, which used 33,300,047 kWh, and Lewis and Clark College, which used 12,375,821 kWh.

This year’s challenge participation increased to 69 competing institutions, representing 31 different conferences nationwide. The challenge’s total annual green power usage of more than 1.5 billion kWh has the equivalent environmental impact of avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the annual electricity use of more than 132,000 homes.

OSU was also just named in the Princeton Review’s annual Green Guide to Colleges.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The National Pesticide Information Center at Oregon State University has launched a comprehensive new website (http://npic.orst.edu/) that includes 125 original pages on pesticides and integrated pest management.

“The site is a clearinghouse for objective, science-based information related to pesticides and pest management,” said Kaci Buhl, project coordinator for the center. Last year, it received more than 25,000 questions from all 50 states and several countries. They can answer questions in more than 170 languages.

In addition, there are more than 200 pages with pest-specific strategies, podcasts and fact sheets.

“Whether you’re a parent, homeowner, physician or pesticide applicator, you can get objective information about pesticides used for controlling everything from bed bugs to weeds on our website,” said Bryan Harper, who coordinated the development of the sites.

Questions to the center reflect many concerns, Buhl said, some involving life-threatening scenarios.

The new website complements the center’s toll-free telephone service, at 1-800-858-7378, Monday – Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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About the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences: The college contributes in many ways to the economic and environmental sustainability of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The college’s faculty are leaders in agriculture and food systems, natural resources management, life sciences and rural economic development research.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/12/national-pesticide-information-center-launches-new-website/feed/0SB 242 Has Yet to be Schedule for a Ways and Means Committee Hearinghttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/11/sb-242-has-yet-to-be-schedule-for-a-ways-and-means-committee-hearing/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/11/sb-242-has-yet-to-be-schedule-for-a-ways-and-means-committee-hearing/#commentsWed, 11 May 2011 16:49:00 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=467The Joint Ways and Means Committee has yet to schedule a work session for SB 242. Please alert your colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee of the importance of moving this bill through the legislative process. SB 242 was approved by the Senate Education & Workforce Development Committee in early March. It has now […]

The Joint Ways and Means Committee has yet to schedule a work session for SB 242. Please alert your colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee of the importance of moving this bill through the legislative process.

SB 242 was approved by the Senate Education & Workforce Development Committee in early March. It has now been in the Joint Ways & Means Committee for two months, awaiting a fiscal impact statement from the Legislative Fiscal Office and a number of agreed upon amendments. Please urge your colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee to move the bill forward.

(Corvallis, Oregon) – Images of Earth’s coastal region are being beamed straight into a lab at Corvallis, Oregon’s Oregon State University, helping scientists monitor a variety of events in that ecosystem from a brand new vantage point, including things like plankton blooms or even oil spills (above: image of the Columbia River from the imaging system).

More details of the project will be part of an upcoming issue of the American Geophysical Union journal, EOS, but much of this – including the images – can be found on an OSU website about the project.

Oregon State University has been selected to host the records and database of the Oregon Century Farm & Ranch Program, which contains century and sesquicentennial farm and ranch applications.

The Oregon Century Farm & Ranch Program was established in 1958 to honor the state’s rich agricultural heritage by awarding farm and ranch families with sesquicentennial and century-long connections to the land. To date, 1,117 families have formally received the “Century” designation and 22 families have received the “Sesquicentennial” award.

Larry Landis, the university archivist at OSU, says the records paint a picture about the way agriculture has shaped Oregon.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/09/osu-receives-wealth-of-records-on-historic-oregon-farms/feed/0Oregon State student engineers design a barley malter to help learn about beerhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/09/oregon-state-student-engineers-design-a-barley-malter-to-help-learn-about-beer/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/09/oregon-state-student-engineers-design-a-barley-malter-to-help-learn-about-beer/#commentsMon, 09 May 2011 15:14:19 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=456OSU Engineering students develop their own barley malter for their Senior Project

John Foyston/Special to The Oregonian Professor Tom Shellhammer of OSU's Fermentation Science program watches Joe Hortnagl attach the steam line to the heat exchanger that roasts the barley in the mini-malter's kilning cycle

By Special to The Oregonian

A group of Oregon State University engineering students didn’t wait to graduate before endowing their alma mater: For their senior project, they designed and built an innovative barley malter that allows OSU to now teach every step of brewing, from barley field and hop yard to bottling line.

“It’s the bread machine of barley malters,” said professor Pat Hayes of OSU’s Crop and Soil Science department. The malter, which looks a bit like a half-ton stainless steel rocket motor, automates and consolidates the task of steeping, germinating and kilning barley to make barley malt.

Graduate student and team leader Joe Hortnagl and mechanical engineering seniors Aaron Mason, Tyler Froemming, Eric Sunderland and Curtis Barnard designed and built a machine into which you can pour raw barley, set the computer and come back in about a week to shovel out as much as 300 pounds of fragrant, toasty, Grape-Nuts-tasting barley malt.

In reality, it’s a bit more fussy than that, but the students’ flexible and affordable rig has piqued the interest of commercial maltsters and food companies that use sprouted grain.

Malted barley is the essential backbone of beer. The sprouted, toasted seed contains the enzymes and starches that yeast turns into sugars and alcohol. Because it can be kilned to precise degrees of color and roast, maltsters make dozens of styles and colors of malt, from pale Vienna malt to the roasted black patent malt that makes Guinness opaque. Beer recipes often call for several types of malt, and brewers use it by the hundredweight or the ton — after water, malt is beer’s main ingredient.

Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian Jim Owen, an Oregon State University researcher, retrieves a radio control helicopter after a test flight Thursday at J. Frank Schmidt & Son Nursery in Boring.

BORING — It’s enough to bring out the inner radio-control geek in anyone who sees it. Buzzing like a swarm of bees, a six-rotor helicopter revs to life and vaults straight up, rising quickly above thousands of potted trees at J. Frank Schmidt & Son Nursery.

It’s only about three feet across and its spindly legs make it look like a flying spider, but this is no toy. Loaded on board is sophisticated GPS technology that sends it to pre-programmed points and maintains a constant altitude of 25 meters, slightly more than 80 feet. Dangling from its abdomen is a digital camera. A swiveling housing keeps the camera level even if the craft pitches in the wind.

Pilot Heather Stoven, an Oregon State University research assistant who learned to fly the machine three days ago, flips a switch and takes a series of photographs of the trees below.

The system cannot find ways to use professors more efficiently without a better grasp of how much time they spend on instruction, research and service, Gary Blackmer, director of the Secretary of State’s audits division, told a joint legislative audits committee.

The Legislature can take tuition money that students and families pay and spend it on something other than education. The Legislature can even swipe the interest.

There’s more. The Legislature gives Oregon universities less money per student than in all but five other states. The level of state support has dropped by some 16 percent for the 20 years ending in 2009.

And then the Legislature goes on to dictate the size of tuition and how the schools should spend their money in hundreds of line items.

Add it up. The Legislature gives Oregon’s higher education less and less, can take tuition students and families are forced to pay more of and then tells the university system how to spend a lot of the money that is left.

That is bad. Very bad.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office released a report this week on faculty efficiency in the Oregon University System. There was a legislative hearing on the audit today.

Now, we don’t dispute that there are more than likely ways in which the university system could use its faculty more efficiently. The audit states that faculty workload and student demand for courses is not comprehensively tracked.

Oversight is an important role for the Legislature. It could spend hours, even months, debating how much time faculty should spend teaching and doing research and the advantages and disadvantages of having graduate students teach many courses.

Instead of doing that, let’s talk about what the Legislature can do now. Pass Senate Bill 242.

SB 242 would give Oregon’s colleges and universities more autonomy to set and spend tuition and manage programs. The Legislature would still get to set performance goals for the system. It could set benchmarks for things like time to graduate, affordability, access for Oregon students and degrees. It could even, if it wanted, ask the university system to better track faculty workload and student demand for courses. Schools would still have to follow Oregon laws on openness, ethics and auditing.

Most importantly, the money paid for education would go toward education. That’s something more fundamental than that efficiency study. It is putting money where Oregon families intend it, not where the Legislature wants it. Call your legislator and ask what they are going to do to get SB 242 out of subcommittee and up for a vote.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/tuition-money-should-go-toward-education/feed/0Five high school teachers awarded Outstanding High School Educator Awardhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/five-high-school-teachers-awarded-outstanding-high-school-educator-award/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/five-high-school-teachers-awarded-outstanding-high-school-educator-award/#commentsThu, 05 May 2011 01:28:18 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=442Five exceptional high school teachers receive the Outstanding High School Educator Award.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Five exceptional high school teachers from Portland, Rockaway Beach, Lake Oswego, Gold Beach and Vancouver, Wash. are this year’s recipients of the Outstanding High School Educator Award.

The awards are sponsored by Oregon State University’s College of Business and the Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers.

The annual awards recognize high school educators whose efforts have improved student achievement, used innovative and exemplary instructional strategies and enhanced student learning. Winners were selected based on their philosophy in teaching and how their efforts improved education in innovative ways.

Nominations were submitted from throughout Oregon and southwest Washington and were made by students, fellow teachers and administrators.

“We believe that education, especially at the high school level, provides the building blocks of leadership and evaluation, as well as the inspiration for future achievement,” said Steve Clark, president of the Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers.

The following teachers will receive this year’s Outstanding High School Educator Awards:

Gretchen Anthony has taught at Gold Beach High School on the Oregon coast for more than 21 years. She is known for instilling complex mathematics subjects through creative techniques, including guest speakers to illustrate career opportunities and the role of mathematics in the business world.

Diana Bledsoe is a teacher at Legacy High School in Vancouver, Wash., where she helps at-risk students retain essential life skills and meet graduation requirements. Her varied courses incorporate student interest in writing, culture and history that create a learning atmosphere of motivation, curiosity and engagement.

Elena Garcia-Velasco has developed and implemented a rigorous college-bound philosophy among students at Roosevelt High School in Portland. She teaches advanced placement classes for native Spanish- and English-speaking students.

Beth Gienger of Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach has been a science teacher for 27 years and continually inspires students with her expertise in marine biology. She has taken students to numerous science competitions and has won championships.

Terry Moore, a teacher at Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego,is known for using innovative instructional methods at to help students understand difficult mathematics concepts. He has inspired students to become doctors, lawyers, business leaders, teachers, mathematicians and even a Rhodes Scholar.

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About the OSU College of Business: The College of Business educates students for success in managing and developing sustainable, innovative enterprises in a dynamic economy. With strong graduate and undergraduate programs, internationally recognized scholarly research, and an emphasis on experiential learning, the college helps students and businesses succeed.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/five-high-school-teachers-awarded-outstanding-high-school-educator-award/feed/0OSU Shares $9M Late Blight Management Granthttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/osu-shares-9m-late-blight-management-grant/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/osu-shares-9m-late-blight-management-grant/#commentsThu, 05 May 2011 01:22:10 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=440Oregon State University is part of a 17-institutiion consortium that will share a grant of $9 million to study late blight, one of the world’s most significant plant diseases, which hits potatoes and tomatoes. The 17 sharing institutions are in Mexico and Scotland, as well as the U.S. OSU will receive nearly$790,000 over the next […]

Oregon State University is part of a 17-institutiion consortium that will share a grant of $9 million to study late blight, one of the world’s most significant plant diseases, which hits potatoes and tomatoes.

The 17 sharing institutions are in Mexico and Scotland, as well as the U.S. OSU will receive nearly$790,000 over the next five years.

“Late blight is a significant disease of potatoes, which is the world’s largest non-cereal crop, and a tomato pest,” says Niklaus (cq) Grunwald, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist who has a courtesy appointment to OSU’s Department of Botany and Plant Pathology.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/osu-shares-9m-late-blight-management-grant/feed/0Surf’s Up, Natural Resource Use Downhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/surfs-up-natural-resource-use-down/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/surfs-up-natural-resource-use-down/#commentsThu, 05 May 2011 01:18:57 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=437By Salem Weekly Editors from Salem Weekly, Section News Posted on Tue May 03, 2011 at 11:55:37 PM PDT Newport will soon be the first place in the United States to have a wave energy test program. The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, a collaboration of Oregon State University and the University of Washington, […]

Newport will soon be the first place in the United States to have a wave energy test program. The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, a collaboration of Oregon State University and the University of Washington, announced their decision in late April.

The site will be around one square mile in size, two miles northwest of Yaquina Head in water that is 150-180 feet deep. The facility is being funded by both the state of Oregon and the U.S. Department of Energy.

“If all of our plans and permits are approved, we hope to have the test facility available for wave energy developers to use by this fall,” said Annette von Jouanne, an OSU professor of electrical engineering and leader with the university’s wave energy research programs.

The site will also be used to study any potential environmental impacts on sediments and sea life. A release from the group said that it will not initially be connected to the land-based electrical grid.

Ken Rhinefrank stands aboard the crane barge Sea Horse and smacks his hand against the six-ton yellow contraption resting on it like a gigantic dumbbell. “Stronger than steel,” he says.

It’ll have to be. The dumbbell – the SeaRay developed by Oregon startup Columbia Power Technologies – is about to be lowered into Puget Sound in pursuit of a goal that has eluded engineers for decades: generating reliable energy from the waves.

It’s a mother of a technical challenge. A field-tested, commercial-ready wave-energy device – there are only a few in the world – has to withstand the pummeling of wind and surf, the relentless corrosion of saltwater and maybe 300-pound seals that try to sun themselves on its surface.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/waiting-for-a-wave/feed/0Clackamas County Extension Community Report Now Availablehttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/clackamas-county-extension-community-report-now-available/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/clackamas-county-extension-community-report-now-available/#commentsThu, 05 May 2011 01:10:21 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=431The Clackamas County Extension Community Report is now available. The 16-page tabloid was published in cooperation with the Pamplin Media Group. The tabloid appeared in the following community newspapers the last week of April, 2011: Sandy Post, Estacada News, Oregon City News, Clackamas Review, West Linn Tidings, Lake Oswego Review, Wilsonville Spokesman, Canby Herald and […]

The Clackamas County Extension Community Report is now available. The 16-page tabloid was published in cooperation with the Pamplin Media Group. The tabloid appeared in the following community newspapers the last week of April, 2011: Sandy Post, Estacada News, Oregon City News, Clackamas Review, West Linn Tidings, Lake Oswego Review, Wilsonville Spokesman, Canby Herald and Molalla Pioneer. The circulation was 50,000 copies.

“Extension’s Community Report provides a look at the university’s work in our county,” said Mike Bondi, Oregon State University’s Staff Chair at the Clackamas County Extension office. In addition, Bondi is the Interim Director at OSU’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) at Aurora—also, in Clackamas County. The report includes information Extension’s programs in the county—4-H, Family and Community Health, Forestry and Natural Resources and Agriculture. Several pages of the report focus specifically on agricultural topics and the work of the faculty and staff at NWREC.

“Our goal with the Community Report is to showcase our key education programs, outreach, and research for the past year—and the difference these activities make in people’s lives here in our communities.” Copies of the Clackamas County Extension Community Report can be obtained at the Extension office in Oregon City or at NWREC in Aurora.

The Oregon State University Extension Service is 100 years old. Gov. John Kitzhaber commemorated that birthday recently by proclaiming a special day in its honor. The news release noted the OSU off-campus education outreach program results in faculty working in every county in Oregon.

“Extension is perhaps best known for its 4-H clubs for youths, its Master Gardener training and its assistance to the state’s agricultural producers,” said the governor’s release. “But it also educates low-income Oregonians about proper nutrition, teaches forest owners how to manage their land and helps people improve watersheds. It trains home canners to preserve food safely, helps senior citizens stay healthy, shows aspiring small farmers how to get started and publishes how-to guides on everything from controlling aphids on roses to maintaining a septic tank.”

Today in Central Oregon students from more than 20 universities around the country will be rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty as part of the 51st annual National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest.

This year’s competition is being hosted by Oregon State University’s Cascades Campus.

Competitors will be racing against the clock to determine the kings and queens of the soil pit.

The head of OSU Cascade’s Natural Resources program seems remarkably relaxed for a guy about to host his first national soil competition. But then again, most of the heavy lifting is already done, specifically the digging of the 23 soil pits.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/national-competition-digs-in-to-central-oregon-dirt/feed/0OSU Art About Agriculture Exhibition Opens May 6http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/osu-art-about-agriculture-exhibition-opens-may-6/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/osu-art-about-agriculture-exhibition-opens-may-6/#commentsThu, 05 May 2011 00:56:10 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=42317 artists will be showcased in the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences’ 29th annual “Art About Agriculture” exhibition

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The work of 17 artists will be showcased in the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences’ 29th annual “Art About Agriculture” exhibition May 6–27 in the Giustina Gallery in LaSells Stewart Center.

“This year’s exhibition presents art by visual artists who draw, paint, photograph and sculpt,” said Shelley Curtis, curator. “Through their work they offer us understanding into values and deeper meaning of our region’s salient natural resources.”

The theme for the exhibit is “Ways into the Region.”

Another showing of the art is scheduled in Medford June 17 through July 29 at the Rogue Gallery and Art Center, 40 S. Bartlett St. A public reception at the Medford showing is Friday, June 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Rogue Gallery.

Judges Keith Achepohl from Eugene, an emeritus professor of art at the University of Iowa, and Marsha Matthews, Portland, director of public services for the Oregon Historical Society, will award more than $4,000 to chosen artists.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/osu-art-about-agriculture-exhibition-opens-may-6/feed/0Gardening News from OSU Extension Service and the OSU Agricultural Experiment Stationhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/gardening-news-from-osu-extension-service-and-the-osu-agricultural-experiment-station/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/05/04/gardening-news-from-osu-extension-service-and-the-osu-agricultural-experiment-station/#commentsThu, 05 May 2011 00:08:27 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=420The May 2011 issue of Oregon State University's E-News for Northwest Gardeners is now online at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/enews.

Plant cole crops in June and July for fall-winter harvest Plant Brussels’ sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower starts and kale seed by the end of July to harvest in the fall, winter and early spring.

Is it time to plant vegetables? Ask your soil thermometer (This timely news release was in last month’s E-News, and deserves a repeat.) Soil temperature is the best indicator of when to plant vegetables, said Annie Chozinski, OSU vegetable researcher.

EUGENE, Ore. – Clematis vines have three main requirements to thrive – sunlight on their stems and leaves; cool and moist but not wet roots; and support for climbing.

“They need a little special handling at the start, but once established they grow and flower year after year,” said Ross Penhallegon, horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.

To provide ample sunlight, plant the vine where it will get at least six hours of daylight. Filtered shade during the hottest part of the day (July–September) will help keep dark-colored blooms from fading. For a cool root zone, use mulch or organic compost, or plant low-growing shrubs or perennials that will shade the base of the vine. For support use a fence, trellis, tall shrub or another vine, such as climbing rose or wisteria, for support.

Although clematis vines are native to Europe, Asia and North America, more than 200 varieties are available to Oregon gardeners. Some are native to Oregon; the most common is the western white clematis, also known as virgin’s bower or old man’s beard.

The diversity is stunning. Both evergreen and deciduous, some have large purple, white or pink blossoms, others are small, creamy and fragrant. Others have yellow or cerulean blue bell shaped flowers. Some bloom once in the summer, others in the spring and fall, or only in the fall.

Deciduous clematis is hardy in all Oregon climates. Evergreen varieties, such as sweet smelling, spring blooming clematis armandii, are more sensitive to the cold and perform best in western valleys and the coast. Oregon usually gets a couple of weeks of very cold weather, especially in December or January.

Clematis roots need plenty of room: Dig a large planting hole, two feet deep and nearly as wide. If the soil is very heavy or has lots of clay, add fine bark, manure, compost and/or peat moss. The more organic matter, the better. Add lime if the soil is acidic.

“If your garden tends toward clay, rough up the sides of the planting hole to prevent ‘glazing,’ which can keep the roots from growing beyond the smooth sides of the planting hole into the surrounding soil,” Penhallegon said. The roughing up can also keep water from pooling in the planting hole during the wet season.

Set the plant in the hole with the crown two to three inches below the soil surface. Stake the vine until it has grown enough to reach its permanent support. A new plant should be well-watered, but not overfed. Once established, it will respond well to rose or tomato food, or any fertilizer in the range of 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 or good compost or chicken manure.

As clematis like to keep its feet cool, insulate the root zone of your clematis with a thick mulch of straw, leaves or bark. Or plant a low-growing plant or a rock on the south side of your clematis to help keep the root area shaded.

Pinch out the tips of new shoots once or twice during the first growing season to encourage branching near the base of the vine.

Most clematis will perform better with an annual pruning. Those that bloom during summer on new wood need heavy pruning in winter or early spring, or they will look thin and stringy. The kinds that bloom in the spring on last year’s wood can do without pruning, but are better if cut back lightly after they have finished flowering in the later spring or summer.

If given a good start, and a little maintenance, your clematis can live for a long time.

-30-

About Garden News from OSU Extension Service: The Extension Service Gardening web page, http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/, links to a broad spectrum of information on Oregon gardening, such as tips, monthly calendars, how-to publications, audio programs, the Master Gardener program and “Northwest Gardeners e-News.”

Seven Oregon 4-H members have been selected to join a delegation of 30 youth and five adult chaperones that will travel to Mongolia this summer through a leadership program developed by the University of Wyoming 4-H Youth Development Program in partnership with the Mongolian 4-H Youth Organization. The Oregon 4-H Youth Development Program is a cooperator with this cultural immersion opportunity.

Youth were selected through an application and interview process from the 13-state western region of the land-grant universities Cooperative Extension System. The finalists selected are from Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Enhancing Global Perspectives in Youth is funded by a $267,434 grant from the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service. The Mongolian group is in the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.

The group will leave June 16 and return July 15.

“The program will provide an opportunity for students to experience firsthand knowledge of foreign cultures and to collaborate on solving global natural resource and environmental issues,” said Warren Crawford, youth development specialist with Wyoming 4-H. Crawford, along with Kim Reaman, Wyoming state 4-H volunteer management specialist, will also accompany the group.

For most of the stay, the delegates will live with a Mongolian host family and experience the Mongolian way of life. The delegation will also be learning about environmental issues such as renewable energy, water quality and land restoration and reclamation.

In addition, youth will participate in community service projects in and around the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and attend the Mongolian festival of Naadam.

Oregon youth delegates are:

Emily Cackler, Buxton in Washington County—a student at Banks High School Nicholas Morales, Medford in Jackson County—a student at South Medford High School Erynne van Zee, Corvallis in Benton County—a student at Crescent Valley High School Michael Boggess, Corvallis in Benton County—a student at Crescent Valley High School Samuel Greydanus, Corvallis in Benton County—a student at Crescent Valley High School Jaden Bales, Imbler, in Union County—a student at Imbler Charter Schools Shelby Worthing, Prineville, in Crook County—a student at Crook County High School

Zachary Lauritzen, Corvallis, a Social Studies teacher at Crescent Valley High School, is one of the five adult chaperones selected to accompany the delegation to Mongolia.

In support of the newly established 4-H program, the delegation will be taking children’s books, and horse helmets for use by the Mongolian 4-H Organization. Generous donations by the following groups, businesses, and individuals have provided these items for the Oregon delegates.

Plant cole crops in June and July for fall-winter harvest Plant Brussels’ sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower starts and kale seed by the end of July to harvest in the fall, winter and early spring.

Is it time to plant vegetables? Ask your soil thermometer (This timely news release was in last month’s E-News, and deserves a repeat.) Soil temperature is the best indicator of when to plant vegetables, said Annie Chozinski, OSU vegetable researcher.

Note to media outlets: Each month, we send out these timely garden and natural resource articles as OSU Extension’s monthly electronic “Northwest Gardeners e-News” magazine, which can be accessed online at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/enews/.

Also, the OSU Extension Service sends out one new “Lawn and Garden Notes” article every week. To receive this weekly OSU gardening article, e-mail your request to: Karen.Zimmermann@oregonstate.edu

You may also want to bookmark the OSU Extension Service’s gardening webpage. From one spot, you can link to hundreds of OSU garden articles; publications; online guides to weed, pest and disease control; garden calendars; radio programs; the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program; local county Extension offices; and urban entomology websites.

Feel free to contact Peg Herring or Judy Scott with questions or feedback. They can be reached by mail at Extension and Experiment Station Communications, Oregon State University, 422 Kerr Admin. Bldg., Corvallis, OR 97331-2119, by telephone at 541-737-3311, and by e-mail at Peg.Herring@oregonstate.edu or Judy.Scott@oregonstate.edu

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/osu-e-news-for-northwest-gardeners-may-2011/feed/0How California Almonds may be Hurting Beeshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/how-california-almonds-may-be-hurting-bees/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/how-california-almonds-may-be-hurting-bees/#commentsFri, 29 Apr 2011 22:44:22 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=406Perhaps the most significant of all the single crops affecting honeybees in the United States is the California almond. California is the world’s largest producer of almonds, and it takes 1.3 million beehives — each populated by tens of thousands of bees — to pollinate them, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Migratory beekeepers, […]

Perhaps the most significant of all the single crops affecting honeybees in the United States is the California almond.

California is the world’s largest producer of almonds, and it takes 1.3 million beehives — each populated by tens of thousands of bees — to pollinate them, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Migratory beekeepers, who move truckloads of hives from state to state to pollinate seasonal crops, converge in California every year in early spring.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/how-california-almonds-may-be-hurting-bees/feed/0Special-needs children see benefits from “Beavers Got Talent”http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/402/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/402/#commentsFri, 29 Apr 2011 22:24:36 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=402OSU IMPACT partners special needs children with an Oregon State student to swim and run

For kids at Headstart, the first impression of any program makes the difference in how they accept new concepts and retain learned principles and knowledge. 4-H, in partnership with the nutrition program, presents easy to learn nutrition lessons. By dressing and acting like an image of a food product, they have captured the hearts of these children who in turn have share learnt lessons with their parents. The teachers report how children look forward to these sessions and how happy their parents are that they are learning good nutrition methods/lessons.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/first-impressions-create-impact-for-kids/feed/0Carbon sequestration estimate in U.S. increased – barring a droughthttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/carbon-sequestration-estimate-in-u-s-increased-%e2%80%93-barring-a-drought/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/carbon-sequestration-estimate-in-u-s-increased-%e2%80%93-barring-a-drought/#commentsFri, 29 Apr 2011 21:51:53 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=390 By David Stauth, 541-737-0787 Contact: Beverly Law, 541-77-6111 or bev.law@oregonstate.edu This story is available online: http://bit.ly/idZ0sW CORVALLIS, Ore. – A research group has concluded that forests and other terrestrial ecosystems in the lower 48 states can sequester up to 40 percent of the nation’s fossil fuel carbon emissions, a larger amount than previously estimated – […]

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A research group has concluded that forests and other terrestrial ecosystems in the lower 48 states can sequester up to 40 percent of the nation’s fossil fuel carbon emissions, a larger amount than previously estimated – unless a drought or other major disturbance occurs.

Widespread droughts, such as those that occurred in 2002 and 2006, can cut the amount of carbon sequestered by about 20 percent, the scientists concluded in a recent study that was supported by the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy.

The research, published by scientists from 35 institutions in the journal Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, was based on satellite measurements and dozens of environmental observation sites in the AmeriFlux network. Not all of this data had previously been incorporated into earlier estimates, and the new study provides one of the most accurate assessments to date of the nation’s carbon balance.

“With this data it appears that our forests and other vegetation can sequester as much as 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the lower 48 states,” said Beverly Law, a co-author of the study, professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University, and science team chair of the AmeriFlux network.

“That’s substantially higher than some previous estimates, which indicated these ecosystems could take up the equivalent of only about 30 percent of emissions or less,” Law said. “There’s still some uncertainty in these data, but it does appear that the terrestrial carbon sink is higher than believed in earlier studies.”

However, the scientists cautioned that major disturbances, such as droughts, wildfires and hurricanes, can all affect the amount of carbon sequestered in a given year. Large droughts that happened twice in the U.S. in the past decade reduced the carbon sink about 20 percent, compared to a normal year.

“With climate change, we may get more extreme or frequent weather events in the future than we had before,” Law said. “About half of the United States was affected by the major droughts in 2002 and 2006, which were unusually severe in their spatial extent and severity. And we’re now learning that this can have significant effects on the amount of carbon sequestered in a given year.”

Carbon dioxide, when released by the burning of fossil fuels, forest fires, or other activities, is a major “greenhouse gas” and factor in global warming. But vegetation, mostly in the form of growing evergreen and deciduous forests, can play an important role in absorbing some of the excess carbon dioxide.

Such information is important to understand global climate issues and develop policies, the researchers noted. This study examined the carbon budget in the U.S. from 2001 to 2006. Also playing a key role in the analysis was the PRISM climate database at OSU, a sophisticated system to monitor weather on a very localized and specific basis.

The period from 2001-06, the researchers noted, had some catastrophic and unusual events, not the least of which was Hurricane Katrina and the massive destruction it caused. It also factored in the 2002 Biscuit Fire in southwest Oregon, one of the largest forest fires in modern U.S. history.

The research found that the temperate forests in the eastern U.S. absorbed carbon mainly because of forest regrowth following the abandonment of agricultural lands, while some areas of the Pacific Northwest assimilated carbon during much of the year because of the region’s mild climate.

Crop lands were not considered in determining the annual magnitude of the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink, because the carbon they absorb each year during growth will be soon released when the crops are harvested or their biomass burned.

“Our results show that U.S. ecosystems play an important role in slowing down the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” the researchers wrote in their conclusion. “The dominant sources of the recent interannual variation included extreme climate events (e.g., drought) and disturbances (e.g., wildfires, hurricanes).”

About the OSU College of Forestry: For a century, the College of Forestry has been a world class center of teaching, learning and research. It offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in sustaining ecosystems, managing forests and manufacturing wood products; conducts basic and applied research on the nature and use of forests; and operates 14,000 acres of college forests.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/carbon-sequestration-estimate-in-u-s-increased-%e2%80%93-barring-a-drought/feed/0Managing online retail stock-outs critical to business successhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/managing-online-retail-stock-outs-critical-to-business-success/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/managing-online-retail-stock-outs-critical-to-business-success/#commentsFri, 29 Apr 2011 21:44:18 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=387Tips from the College of Health and Human Sciences on how to manage stock outs

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The online shopper places an order for size 8 navy boot-cut jeans, only to discover they are out of stock again. With the click of the mouse, the shopper is off to a different online store.

Another customer – which means revenue – is lost to what researchers call “online stock-outs.”

According to industry statistics, stock-outs cause a projected $25 billion in losses for individual businesses every year. To a struggling business, simply being out of merchandise doesn’t just put an immediate dent in finances, according to Oregon State University researcher Minjeong Kim. It can also mean adverse long-term impact such as loss of market share due to customer dissatisfaction, loss of patronage, and negative word-of-mouth.

In a recent study published in the journal Psychology and Marketing, Kim analyzed why managing online stock-outs could be the difference between business success or failure to an online apparel retailer. Those losses for e-commerce businesses from stock-outs can be minimized, she said.

In their study, Kim, an associate professor at OSU’s Department of Design and Human Environment, and University of Delaware researcher Sharron Lennon studied how consumers respond to online stock-outs and how stock-outs can be effectively managed when they occur.

“By looking at a picture of an item online you would assume it’s available, but in reality they could be out of stock,” Kim said. “Stores need to understand it’s important to find a fine balance between overstock and stock-outs.”

Kim and Lennon created a mock clothing website, and then studied the consumer behavior of 5,000 randomly-selected female college students. Each participant was asked to find two items she wanted to purchase. Some items were available and others weren’t, giving the mock site a feeling of a real online shopping experience. Some participants found that their two preferred items were in stock, while others found that they were not available.

The negative reactions were all linked to how the online store managed stock-outs. Websites that did not notify the consumer until the check-out process that an item was out of stock were rated significantly worse than businesses that informed their customers earlier in the shopping process.

“Timing of out-of-stock notification, preference of unavailable items, and frequency of stock-outs are critical in determining how people respond to the stock-out,” Kim said. “By simply notifying in-stock status up front, e-commerce businesses can minimize negative consumer reactions to stock-outs.”

“Companies also need to make sure that their popular items are in stock,” she added.

Kim said Amazon.com is a positive example of a company that provides a stock status for customers by including when the item will be expected to ship, and when it will be restocked.

“When you can manage and meet your customer’s expectations in the long run, you’ll have a more successful business,” she said.

In a follow-up study, the researchers found that customers experienced less negative emotion when the online retailer acknowledged the stock-out. Compared to simply acknowledging stock-outs or giving a backorder option, financial compensation such as discounts on next purchase was more effective in mitigating the negative impact of stock-outs on patronage intention.

Kim, who is also the program coordinator for Merchandising Management at OSU, said her research is also looking at consumer misbehavior on one of the busiest shopping days of the year – Black Friday.

This is Tyler’s story in his own words: “My name is Tyler. I am in 7th grade, and I am 13 years old. When I was 11 years old, I joined the Young Entrepreneurs Club. I created my Message In A Bottle product and learned how to start my own business. The club helped me learn how to do marketing and sales. I also learned how to talk to buyers at stores and how to sell my product to them.”

“I have learned other things too, like counting change back, keeping track of sales, paying bills for my business and keeping track of my bank account. I used to be shy and didn’t talk much, but now I talk a lot. I learned how to talk in front of big crowds, too. Now I have been in the club for almost three years. My Message In A Bottle product is being sold in two gift shops, and I am going to add more stores this year. I started my own website, and I am thinking that I can do online sales too. Maybe I might come up with another idea, too.”

The 4-H young Entrepreneurs Club was established through a grant from the 4-H Foundation. The director of the popular Astoria Sunday Market approached the 4-H agent to help create this, and together they brought in vendors from the Astoria Sunday Market to talk about creating, displaying and selling their wares, as well as everything involved in having your own small business venture.

Potential to become invasive provokes need for sterile shrubs Bushes and plants that are considered to be invasive could eventually be replaced with their sterile offspring, thanks to an OSU breeding program.

Note to media outlets: Each month, we send out these timely garden and natural resource articles as OSU Extension’s monthly electronic “Northwest Gardeners e-News” magazine, which can be accessed online at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/enews/.

Also, the OSU Extension Service sends out one new “Lawn and Garden Notes” article every week. To receive this weekly OSU gardening article, e-mail your request to: Karen.Zimmermann@oregonstate.edu

You may also want to bookmark the OSU Extension Service’s gardening webpage. From one spot, you can link to hundreds of OSU garden articles; publications; online guides to weed, pest and disease control; garden calendars; radio programs; the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program; local county Extension offices; and urban entomology websites.

Feel free to contact Peg Herring or Judy Scott with questions or feedback. They can be reached by mail at Extension and Experiment Station Communications, Oregon State University, 422 Kerr Admin. Bldg., Corvallis, OR 97331-2119, by telephone at 541-737-3311, and by e-mail at Peg.Herring@oregonstate.edu or Judy.Scott@oregonstate.edu

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new tool puts the best of Oregon’s digital collections at users’ fingertips, allowing them to easily search through a variety of documents, photographs and other digital items from the state’s universities, libraries and museums.

Oregon State University Valley Libraries has just completed work on the project that will allow visitors to sift through a library of cultural assets.

The Oregon Digital Library Project (http://odl.library.oregonstate.edu) creates a portal that brings together all the public digital collections being created in the state – and provides a clearinghouse to help make them easier for more Oregonians to discover. The site also helps individuals interested in specific content make those connections with the digital collection owners and rights holders.

From early maps of Lewis and Clark’s trek across the western United States, to photographs of sailing ships anchoring in the Columbia River in 1900, to the latest dissertations from OSU doctoral students, the information provided by the project contains items both scholarly and entertaining.

The project includes collections from most of the seven Oregon University System institutions, as well as from public libraries and museums that make their collections available online. It collects metadata – that is, information about a digital item’s content – from collections around the state, and then using software developed by the library, indexes the collections and makes them available through a global search.

Terry Reese, the Gray Family Chair for Innovative Library Services at OSU, thinks the project will directly benefit Oregonians by providing them easy access to many digital resources.

“The fact that it is possible to build the Oregon Digital Library for the state of Oregon is a testament to the fantastic work being done by institutions around the state building high quality digital collections,” said Reese. “Institutions are not just creating collections, but they are creating collections that encourage the harvesting and re-use of their metadata to help patrons build connections to their data in ways that we maybe never saw possible.”

-30-

About the Valley Library: Oregon State University’s main reference center and information repository, the Valley Library is home to more than 1.4 million volumes, 14,000 serials and more than 500,000 maps and government documents.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/oregon-digital-library-project/feed/0Eat fresh out of the garden all year roundhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/eat-fresh-out-of-the-garden-all-year-round/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/eat-fresh-out-of-the-garden-all-year-round/#commentsFri, 29 Apr 2011 21:20:18 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=376Tips on how to make your summer harvest last all year

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Eating fresh-from-the-garden vegetables for dinner often isn’t as glamorous as it may sound, especially this time of the year.

Corvallis gardener Teresa Welch often needs a flashlight to harvest her lettuce, spinach, kale, Swiss chard and other salad greens in the winter. But at least she has them to enjoy. Welch uses tent-like cloches to protect her greens and many other vegetables throughout the cold season.

“Eating fresh out of the garden all year round is what motivates me to use cloches,” Welch said.

But the benefits reach beyond stretching Oregon’s normal growing season. Cloches also keep off winter’s “endless deluge” in western Oregon, she said, and lessen nitrogen loss from the soil. Deer can’t get inside the hoops, and only digging pests, such as moles and gophers, can tunnel underneath.

“Cloche” is French for a bell jar or dish set over plants to protect them from cold weather. They include both portable and permanent structures, and like mini green houses, they shelter plants from wind and cold.

Cloches can extend the growing season in just about any climate; both west and east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. When Welch moved to Corvallis 16 years ago and was hired as an editor for the Oregon State University Extension Service, she was delighted to learn that in western Oregon cloches can extend gardening to every month of the year.

Only once has cold weather – down to12 degrees – frozen her cloche-grown vegetables. Now she covers plants with a thick layer of leaves when temperatures threaten to drop to about 20 degrees.

In the summer, cloches can’t accommodate tall corn or rambling squash, but melons, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes and sweet potatoes love the extreme hot temperatures inside. “Conditions under the plastic make them think they’re living in Georgia,” Welch said.

When outside temperatures reach the 90s however, it’s time to open the cloches for heat to escape.

“It can get astonishingly hot,” Welsh said. “You will also need to roll up the sides for flowering melons, cucumbers, squash and eggplants to pollinate, until fruit is set. (Tomatoes and peppers are self-pollinating.)

She advises keeping watch on young cloche-grown plants in the summer to make sure they get a good start with enough water and not too much heat.

To make the frame for each cloche, she bends five sections of PVC pipe to fit over raised beds that are about four feet by 10 feet. She pushes the ends of each bent hoop securely into the soil and covers the hoops with heavy, clear plastic. For stability, she places two garden stakes over the top of each hoop and secures them with wire. Purchased PVC clips hold the plastic to the hoops.

The cloche tops are easy to move and can be rotated from year to year to grow alternate types of plants and to replenish the soil. Size of the hoops can vary, depending on what is grown inside. Tomatoes grow quickly in a cloche with tall hoops, and Welch harvests them from around the first of August to Thanksgiving.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – If you’d like to grow succulents but don’t know much about these drought-resistant, sun-loving plants – check out ones that are native to Oregon.

Broadleaf stonecrop, also known as Sedum spathulifolium, is one such species. Its varieties grow flowers with many colors and shapes, and the plants tend to have small, waxy-looking leaves.

“It’s one of the best, and many of its varieties and color choices are available at most nurseries,” said Linda McMahan, a horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service in Yamhill County. “The plants rarely are labeled as Pacific Northwest natives, so knowing their name is important.”

She recommended looking for Cape Blanco, Campbell Lake, Blood Red, Moon Glow, Purpureum and Carnea. They grow well in rock gardens, raised beds, pots, old troughs and any location that has full sun and good drainage, she said. They also blend well with other succulents.They are found throughout the state – from coastal soils to rocky areas to the Columbia River Gorge to the Cascade and Siskyou Mountains.

Varieties in the Cascades and other inland sites tend to be dark green, while most on the coast are gray or whitish and are often highly ornamental or have a red tint, McMahan said.

The plant is “well-behaved” and spreads out but is not invasive, she added. It’s hardy in most of Oregon and survives the state’s winters better than non-native species, she said. Once established, it requires little, if any, supplemental water. It’s also a home for caterpillars, and its yellow flowers attract native butterflies each June.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/stumped-over-which-succulent-to-grow-go-native/feed/0Got moss in your lawn? Try these tips.http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/got-moss-in-your-lawn-try-these-tips/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/got-moss-in-your-lawn-try-these-tips/#commentsFri, 29 Apr 2011 21:16:44 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=371Summer's just around the corner - is your lawn as healthy as it could be?

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Whether you live on the wet or dry side of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, moss can infest your lawn. To discourage its growth, Rob Golembiewski, the turfgrass specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service, suggests asking yourself the following questions.

Does your lawn have a poor diet?

Your lawn most likely lacks fertilizer. Moss tends to grow where grass stands are thin and malnourished. But properly timed applications of nitrogen will increase the turf’s density, vigor and competitiveness. Fall and spring are the best times to apply it.

Does your lawn get enough sun?

Grasses grow poorly in dense shade. But if you’re in central and eastern Oregon, try planting fine fescues, which do well in dry shade. In western Oregon’s wet, shady sites, roughstalk bluegrass and bentgrass persist better than other grasses. Or consider removing shaded mossy lawn altogether and planting shade-loving, native perennials and shrubs.

Is your lawn in a naturally soggy area?

Moss thrives in damp wet soils, which often are caused by poor drainage or excessive irrigation. Poor drainage sometimes can be improved by changing grading, aerating lawns, removing thatch, or installing subsurface drain lines to lower the water table.

Do you water your lawn too much?

Avoid watering at night, particularly in fall or early spring when moss growth is vigorous.

Is your lawn “injured” by the activities of children, insect pests, pets or vehicles?

Just like too much water, too little water can encourage moss. Lawns that are not irrigated turn brown and thin out during summer. When fall rains return, moss may grow in faster than the grass.

Is dethatching a good idea?

All in all, the best way to discourage moss in lawns is to encourage good growing conditions for your grass. Golembiewski recommends dethatching your lawn between April and early June with a mechanical dethatcher, available at rental outlets. Dethatching will remove about 75 percent of the moss.

Do you need to seed or fertilize?

After dethatching, seed thin areas, and fertilize the entire lawn at a rate of one to two pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet to stimulate growth of grass, preferably between April and early June. Follow up in the fall with more fertilizer to reduce the problem for the following spring.

the chemical methods to control moss?

Iron compounds are highly effective and work quickly to stimulate a “green-up” of turf. Complete fertilizers with iron remove moss while stimulating grass growth. A drawback to iron is that it stains concrete and many other surfaces; it must be applied carefully. Follow label instructions.

“The key to effective control with iron compounds is thorough coverage of moss foliage,” Golembiewski said. “Liquid materials are very effective and give almost instant results. Smaller particle-sized fertilizer-plus-iron products are more effective than larger-sized granular products because they provide better coverage of the moss.”

Can you get rid of moss that’s been around for a few years?

In older lawns that have heavy, established moss problems, you must be more aggressive, Golembiewski advised. “Moss doesn’t decompose quickly like treated weeds do,” he said. “As a matter of fact, moss seldom dies completely. Treated moss is merely in a dehydrated state. If any green moss still exists two to four weeks after the first treatment, a second application will be required.”

An alternative product is “cryptocidal,” a moss-killing soap. It kills on contact and tends to bleach moss to a whitish yellow, rather than the dark brown color of moss treated with iron. The soaps are safe on sidewalks and other structures. Follow instructions on the label.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/29/got-moss-in-your-lawn-try-these-tips/feed/0Hanging up the Extension cuts off rural Oregonhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/25/hanging-up-the-extension-cuts-off-rural-oregon/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/25/hanging-up-the-extension-cuts-off-rural-oregon/#commentsMon, 25 Apr 2011 17:48:38 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=363In July 2009, Sonny Ramaswamy arrived as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State. The next Monday, he was told to cut $10 million from his budget.

Published: Saturday, April 23, 2011, 4:09 PM

In July 2009, Sonny Ramaswamy arrived as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State.

The next Monday, he was told to cut $10 million from his budget.

Nothing beats an Oregon welcome.

Now, in an even less hospitable budgetary time, he’s looking at another agricultural famine. Three service programs out of Oregon State — the Oregon Extension Service, the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Forest Research Laboratory — face a budget cut of almost 19 percent. It’s a considerably larger cut than even the rest of higher ed, and the shrugging suggestion that universities can just raise tuition doesn’t even apply to these programs.

“So many of the services they provide really are targeted to people who need help,” says Ed Ray, OSU president. “You can start charging rural folks for agricultural help, and for being in 4-H, but they don’t have any money.”

Which is more or less the point.

In rural Oregon, the recession didn’t start in 2008, but somewhere closer to 1982. Those counties have the highest unemployment levels, and outsized hunger rates, often in the middle of some of the richest land in the world. The three programs — supporters tend to refer to them collectively as “the Statewides,” a verbal password indicating not just knowing the programs but valuing them — are efforts to provide some support, and some connection, to those parts of Oregon.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/25/hanging-up-the-extension-cuts-off-rural-oregon/feed/0Co-speakers of Oregon House lead town hall sessionhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/21/co-speakers-of-oregon-house-lead-town-hall-session/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/21/co-speakers-of-oregon-house-lead-town-hall-session/#commentsThu, 21 Apr 2011 20:49:49 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=358The co-chairmen of the Oregon House of Representatives, Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay) and Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg), discussed their historic co-governance agreement and fielded questions on a wide range of issues facing the current legislative session at a town hall meeting Wednesday night at Oregon State University.“This is really an interesting time in the history of […]

The co-chairmen of the Oregon House of Representatives, Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay) and Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg), discussed their historic co-governance agreement and fielded questions on a wide range of issues facing the current legislative session at a town hall meeting Wednesday night at Oregon State University.“This is really an interesting time in the history of Oregon, where for the first time the House is has been equally split 30/30,” Roblan said. “We decided to co-govern everything and share the gavel.”

“It was a very difficult task,” Hanna said. “There’s no script for our co-governance.”

“We have done the things people considered impossible,” Roblan said. “We have met every deadline and continue to work together.”

The broad geographic extent of the liquefaction over hundreds of miles was surprising to experienced engineers accustomed to seeing earthquake disaster sites, including the recent events in Chile and New Zealand.

A new study by researchers at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute suggests most entanglements of Steller sea lions in human-made marine debris along the Pacific coast could be prevented through education and changes to manufacturing and packaging processes.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has retained its top spot in the state for RecycleMania, an annual, nationwide recycling competition between universities.

By recycling and composting a total of 483,449 pounds during the 10-week competition (Jan. 23 through April 2), OSU nabbed first place, while claiming the RecycleMania Civil War title over the University of Oregon by recycling and composting 5.5 pounds more per person.

OSU also beat its own 2010 totals, recycling and composting 67,831 pounds more – a 23 percent increase – and sending 201,158 fewer pounds of materials to the landfill, a 17 percent decrease over the previous year.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/support-for-higher-education/feed/0Oregon State University guides help manage plant diseases, weeds and insectshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/oregon-state-university-guides-help-manage-plant-diseases-weeds-and-insects/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/oregon-state-university-guides-help-manage-plant-diseases-weeds-and-insects/#commentsWed, 20 Apr 2011 15:24:06 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=334Resources from OSU Extension providing extensive information on pest biology and chemical and nonchemical control methods and are useful to Pacific Northwest farmers and growers as well as consultants and home gardeners.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – What are the best ways to manage insects, weeds and plant diseases? Three research-based guides, available through Oregon State University Extension and updated every year, can provide you with reliable answers.

The manuals provide extensive information on pest biology and chemical and nonchemical control methods and are useful to Pacific Northwest farmers and growers as well as consultants and home gardeners.

PNW Weed Management Handbook:

Starting in 2011, this handbook is updated quarterly, rather than annually, and all information can be found on a new website:http://pnwhandbooks.org/weed/

The manual is a quick reference of weed control practices used in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Chemical regulation of plant growth is complex, and a large portion of the handbook is devoted to registered uses of herbicides, crop desiccants and plant growth regulators.

Most uses of chemical regulators are based on research of the Agricultural Experiment Stations or the OSU Extension Service and neighboring states, where circumstances are similar.

The handbook was originally planned as a manual for county Extension specialists. Information pertaining to only a few crops, sites or situations can be found in publications at local county Extension offices and in the OSU Extension Publications and Multimedia Catalog (http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/).

PNW Insect Management Handbook:

The handbook is revised and reissued annually. More than 50 contributors review management practices for crops in the Pacific Northwest. Chemical and nonchemical control recommendations are included. The web version of the manual,http://uspest.org/pnw/insects, includes links to pest photographs, fact sheets and pesticide labels.

An annual review is necessary as the legal uses of many pesticides change frequently, according to editor Craig Hollingsworth, a University of Massachusetts researcher who is one of several scientists who keep track of the legalities.

“Changes include delisting of crops or sites from the label, new formulations requiring different application rates, restrictions on pre-harvest applications, reapplication intervals or reentry periods or other circumstances,” he said. Many pesticides are restricted for use only by licensed commercial growers. Separate chemical recommendations are listed for commercial and home use.

PNW Plant Disease Management Handbook:

This handbook is a reference for the important plant diseases in the Pacific Northwest, and much of the handbook’s content can be found online at http://plant-disease.ippc.orst.edu/

The handbook is the primary method for OSU Extension plant pathology to deliver information to producers, agricultural consultants, field scouts, Oregon Department of Agriculture personnel, field and nursery people, master gardeners and chemical industry representatives.

Organic or conventional growers should find the guide useful. General information on disease biology as well as cultural, biological and chemical control recommendations are summarized for each plant disease. Crop diversification, evolving biological systems, new cultural and biological controls and changing chemical control recommendations require continued enhancement of the handbook.

The 2011 handbooks are now available in print and may be purchased from bookstores, or online at: http://bit.ly/hSusug or by calling OSU Extension and Experiment Station Communications at 800-561-6719.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/oregon-state-university-guides-help-manage-plant-diseases-weeds-and-insects/feed/0OSU Extension Celebrates 100th Birthdayhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/osu-extension-celebrates-100th-birthday/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/osu-extension-celebrates-100th-birthday/#commentsWed, 20 Apr 2011 15:09:15 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=338Governor Kitzhaber has declared Thursday, April 21 as Oregon State University Extension Day. This year OSU Extension celebrates its 100th birthday. To see the Governor’s Proclamation: OSU Extension0n. On Thursday a number of OSU Extension supporters and their County partners will be in the Capitol.

Governor Kitzhaber has declared Thursday, April 21 as Oregon State University Extension Day. This year OSU Extension celebrates its 100th birthday. To see the Governor’s Proclamation: OSU Extension0n. On Thursday a number of OSU Extension supporters and their County partners will be in the Capitol.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/20/osu-extension-celebrates-100th-birthday/feed/0Legislative Alert: April 21st “OSU Extension Day”http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/19/legislative-alert-april-21st-osu-extension-day/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/19/legislative-alert-april-21st-osu-extension-day/#commentsTue, 19 Apr 2011 18:04:14 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=365Governor Kitzhaber has declared Thursday, April 21 as Oregon State University Extension Day. This year OSU Extension celebrates its 100th birthday. To see the Governor’s Proclamation: OSU Extension. On Thursday a number of OSU Extension supporters and their County partners will be in the Capitol.

Governor Kitzhaber has declared Thursday, April 21 as Oregon State University Extension Day. This year OSU Extension celebrates its 100th birthday. To see the Governor’s Proclamation: OSU Extension. On Thursday a number of OSU Extension supporters and their County partners will be in the Capitol.

In college terms, when people talk about sticking together through thick and thin, they often mean the first week of April.

That’s the time when many of the most selective colleges respond to their applicants, with letters either thick — containing details of how to respond to offers of admission, sometimes including literal confetti — or thin (Thanks for playing, now go away). Getting into some of these colleges may require high school seniors to be Superman, but to get the gist of the letter, X-ray vision isn’t necessary.

For Oregon higher education, reading the signals from last week — when Gov. John Kitzhaber testified before the legislature about his education vision — isn’t quite as easy. As usual, when people talk about the importance of Oregon’s universities, they tend to lay it on fairly thick; when it comes to actual support, things tend to run pretty thin.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/11/higher-eds-trail-through-thick-and-mostly-thin/feed/0Legislative Alert: SB 242 Scheduled for a W&M Hearinghttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/09/sb-242-scheduled-for-a-wm-hearing/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/04/09/sb-242-scheduled-for-a-wm-hearing/#commentsSun, 10 Apr 2011 02:16:32 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=315After being approved by the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee, SB 242 is now before the Joint Ways and Means Education Subcommittee: Hearing, 8:30 AM, Wednesday April 13, Hearing Room F. Please help pass this bill. · SB 242 is the result of a year of work by the State Board of Higher Education and an interim […]

After being approved by the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee, SB 242 is now before the Joint Ways and Means Education Subcommittee: Hearing, 8:30 AM, Wednesday April 13, Hearing Room F. Please help pass this bill.

· SB 242 is the result of a year of work by the State Board of Higher Education and an interim bi-partisan legislative committee.

· SB 242 ensures that tuition paid by students will stay with the universities to provide for educational services rather than being taken in legislative “fund sweeps” – as has been done in the past.

·SB 242 ensures that interest generated by tuition will stay with the universities. Currently it goes to the general fund where it is used to pay for programs that have nothing to do with higher education.

·SB 242 creates performance contracts between universities and the legislature to ensure results-oriented spending for every public dollar invested in universities.

·SB 242 is supported by the Oregon Student Association, the Governor, all of Oregon’s business organizations, and the state board of higher education.

AURORA — It’s like a 160-acre experiment. In various corners of the North Willamette Research and Extension Center, experts are attempting to grow blueberry trees, turn seedlings from Turkey into Christmas trees and raise organic flax.

They’re also figuring new ways to kill bugs, revive strawberries and make compost. They’re helping new farmers get started and developing low-maintenance landscape plants. Meanwhile, the gravel parking lot is filled with pickup trucks as growers attend a meeting on how to increase production. A notice on the bulletin board announces an April 21 workshop on spotted wing drosophila, the destructive fruit fly.

ALBANY, Ore. – With almost every hand shooting up in the air in front of them, it was hard for Oregon State University dietetics students to decide which eager sixth grader to call upon as they guest-taught a North Albany Middle School class Friday morning. The women came armed with boxes of raisins to bribe students into participating in their class demonstrations, but they never had to dig into their stash, because the kids were more than ready to jump in and help.

“They didn’t even need the incentives,” Renee Faville said with surprise.

Dietetics student Amber Richmond explains the components of a healthy breakfast to a table of North Albany Middle School students. (photo: Theresa Hogue)

Students in Jenny Vannoy’s Communications in Dietetics course put their expertise in nutrition to the test when they crafted lesson plans tailored for middle school students. They spent several days at North Albany Middle School delivering lessons on topics ranging from healthy breakfasts to portion sizes to being physically active for at least 60 minutes a day. They were working with the Oregon Dairy Council to bring lively discussions about healthy eating to the middle schoolers.

Students scramble to assemble the perfect breakfast, with help from OSU student Erin Dooher. (photo: Theresa Hogue)

“This project partnership allowed an opportunity for OSU dietetics students to apply their nutrition education knowledge and skills in the real world,” Vannoy said. “What better way for them to learn and provide community service than by teaching young people about healthy eating and activity behaviors? We’re excited to participate in North Albany Middle School’s efforts to improve their food and physical activity environment.”

Cara Seger, who works as Oregon Field Manager for the National Dairy Council’s “Fuel Up to Play 60” program, said the Oregon Dairy Council wanted to build up its partnerships with Oregon State University and with local schools, and held a contest in the Albany School District to select a school to participate in the program. North Albany Middle School was selected to participate.

“We thought it was a great fit with the school’s wellness program,” Seger said.

Tish Bottaro is an OSU alum and a teacher at North Albany Middle School. Her background is physical education, and she was thrilled to turn to her alma mater for support in providing students with the nutritional aspects of healthy living.

“It’s awesome and it’s such a good collaboration,” she said.

Back inside the classroom, OSU student Erin Dooher was warming the students up with an introduction to eating a healthy breakfast.

From left, Renee Faville, Amber Richmond, Erin Dooher and Elke Schleiss discuss how to eat a healthy breakfast with a class full of North Albany middle schoolers. (photo: Theresa Hogue)

“I have a fun little activity that is not scary at all,” she said, as hands shot up around the classroom to participate.

The OSU students weren’t sure how much the sixth graders would know about a balanced breakfast, but it turns out, the kids readily discussed whole grains and carbohydrates like nutrition experts.

Although the sixth graders clearly enjoyed their time with their OSU teachers, the lessons didn’t end when the university students departed. The sixth graders are now expected to launch their own nutrition and physical activity education campaigns within their school, and because of their participation in the program, they’re now eligible for a $3,000 grant to use toward supporting health and wellness at their school.

“These messages will extend well beyond the walls of the classroom,” Seger said.

Since a few months the transform fault zone about 350 km out of the Coos Bay Oregon coast is discharging energy by means of earthquakes of magnitude 5.x The Blanco Transform Fault as it is called, has become the most intensely studied ocean transform fault in the world.

Oregon State University scientists have completed a analysis of an earthquake fault line that extends some 200 miles off the southern and central Oregon coast that they say is more active than the San Andreas Fault in California.

The Blanco Transform Fault Zone likely won’t produce the huge earthquake many have predicted for the Pacific Northwest because it isn’t a subduction zone fault. But the scientists say an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 to 7.0 is possible, if not probable in the near future, and their analysis suggests that the region may be under some tectonic stress that potentially could affect the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/08/understanding-the-many-moderate-oregon-usa-seaquakes/feed/0Marine energy center to help test newest technologieshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/07/marine-energy-center-to-help-test-newest-technologies/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/07/marine-energy-center-to-help-test-newest-technologies/#commentsTue, 08 Mar 2011 01:50:27 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=299The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University this month is helping a private company test its latest technology, another step forward for the work of this center and evolution of the field of wave energy.

Marine energy center to help test newest technologies

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University this month is helping a private company test its latest technology, another step forward for the work of this center and evolution of the field of wave energy.

Design, analysis and permit work is also continuing for what will be the world’s first site for testing wave energy devices in the Pacific Ocean near Newport, Ore. And a range of faculty and students are involved in comprehensive research and outreach to help bring wave energy closer to a working reality.

The latest project of the marine energy center is assisting Neptune Wave Power, a Dallas, Texas, firm, in testing the motion and power output of its new and patented wave energy technology – in which wave action would cause a horizontal pendulum to rotate and drive an electric generator. These tests will be run during March at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at OSU.

“Eventually, the combination of the new test berth , the two wave basins on our campus and our wave energy linear test bed will provide some of the best facilities in the world to evaluate and test wave energy devices,” said Annette von Jouanne, an OSU professor of electrical engineering and leader in wave energy research.

A range of other projects is also moving ahead under the leadership of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, according to Meleah Ashford, program manager. Studies are under way in advanced wave forecasting, device and array optimization, device reliability and survivability, environmental effects, social impacts, and other topics.

“There are tremendous opportunities for wave energy but still many challenges,” Ashford said. “The development and evolution of this technology is moving at a careful and steady pace, in part because we want to be very responsible, consider all the issues and perfect the best technologies. We’re particularly pleased that more companies are now taking advantage of our facilities, which are unique in their ability to test new technologies at smaller scales,” Ashford said. “Broad industry participation such as this is a key part of what the marine energy center is designed to encourage.”

Among recent wave energy developments:

OSU has evaluated a range of “direct drive” wave buoy technologies that university researchers believe may have potential for optimal energy performance and survivability.

The OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore., will continue to evolve as a leader in environmental studies for wave energy.

OSU experts through the Department of Sociology and Oregon Sea Grant Extension program are taking national leadership roles in how to work with coastal residents, the fishing community, and other stakeholders to consider a wide range of social needs and concerns.

In addition to engineering and environmental issues, more than 15 OSU graduate students are investigating such topics as the socioeconomic influences on wave energy permitting, ocean zoning, community perceptions and other topics.

OSU has worked with 10 or more private companies to assist them with research, testing, technology evaluation or other needs.

Oregon has one of the largest wave energy resources of any state in the nation, experts say.

The technological research, testing, environmental assessments, and public outreach being coordinated by OSU and the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center are seen as the key to developing that potential.

The marine energy center is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and is a collaboration of OSU and the University of Washington. OSU’s research efforts are focused on wave energy and the University of Washington on tidal energy.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/07/marine-energy-center-to-help-test-newest-technologies/feed/0Distinguished Professorshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/07/distinguished-professors/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/07/distinguished-professors/#commentsTue, 08 Mar 2011 01:11:14 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=295 3-7-11 OSU honors two medical/health researchers with Distinguished Professor awards By Mark Floyd, 541-737-0788; mark.floyd@oregonstate.edu Source: Sabah Randhawa, 541-737-2111 CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two Oregon State University faculty members have been awarded the title of “distinguished professor” – the highest honor that OSU gives to its faculty – for their teaching and collaborative research in biomedical […]

Luiz Bermudez, a professor in OSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, is a national expert on tuberculosis and similar diseases. (photo by Karl Maasdam)

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two Oregon State University faculty members have been awarded the title of “distinguished professor” – the highest honor that OSU gives to its faculty – for their teaching and collaborative research in biomedical sciences and environmental health science.

The honorees are Luiz E. Bermudez, a professor and interim associate dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Robert L. Tanguay, a professor of molecular toxicology in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

“The study of human health and disease prevention is one of OSU’s most important and rapidly growing fields of study, and professors Bermudez and Tanguay epitomize the excellence and international prestige of our faculty,” said Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president. “Their honors are richly deserved.”

Robert Tanguay, an OSU researcher in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology and the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute checks tanks of zebra fish. Tanguay uses zebra fish to examine the biological interactions of nanomaterials with biological systems. Embryonic zebra fish are particularly useful for studying the effects of nanomaterials on living organisms because they develop quickly, are transparent and can be easily maintained in small amounts of water. (photo by Lynn Ketchum, OSU)

Bermudez specializes in the study of tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases. Funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of nearly $1 million – as well as numerous other research grants – he is pioneering the first new tuberculosis therapytreatment in four decades. His research is critical: Tuberculosis is making a comeback around the world and infects about 8 million people annually, killing a quarter of them.

Some new strains of tuberculosis have developed strong resistance to powerful drugs, which have been “the backbone of modern anti-TB chemotherapy,” noted Bermudez, who also heads the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Now it is very common for a healthy person to acquire drug-resistant bacteria directly. In terms of public health, that is a nightmare.”

Bermudez has been on the OSU faculty for eight years and is noted for his teaching and mentorship as well as research. He also is a leader among national medical health researchers, chairing or participating on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Tanguay came to OSU in 2003 to direct the university’s Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory, where he has created a world-class zebrafishresearch facility. Tanguay and other scientists use zebrafish as a model organism to study environmental effects on human health. During the past year, he received the prestigious National Institutes of Health Director’s Award of $2 million to build advanced robotics to automate zebrafish experimentation.

“A surprisingly large number of human diseases can be modeled in fish,” said Tanguay. “With about 80 percent of genes in humans also present in these fish, they present an opportunity to better understand risks to human health.”

Tanguay is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at OSU, and also is noted for his teaching and service as well as research. In addition to studying the effects of toxins at the molecular level, he is pioneering new approaches for drug and environmental chemical safety testing, examining mechanisms for regenerative medicine, and investigating the emerging field of nanotoxicology.

As Northwest farmers and homeowners, fishermen and business enterprises, timber operators and political leaders confront the mounting impacts of climate change, OSU and other universities are seeking better ways to lend support and ease transitions.

Two new regional climate centers will apply research to resource management issues faced by the general public and policymakers. With funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Pacific Northwest Climate Decision Support Consortium will bring together faculty from the universities of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Boise State, as well as Oregon Sea Grant and extension services, to meet the climate-related needs of businesses, governments, tribes and non-governmental organizations.

One of 11 regional groups, the program — Regional Integrated Sciences Assessments (RISA) — will help “to realign our nation’s climate research to better serve society,” according to NOAA.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Interior has established a new Climate Science Center with OSU, the University of Washington and the University of Idaho to assist state and federal agencies.

“It is the agencies that create action plans to adapt to climate change,” said Phil Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at OSU and a leader in both of the new regional centers. “What the Climate Science Center will do is provide the science needed to help the agencies make the best decisions. There also is a role for training students on climate change-related issues and preparing them to work in the organizations the center will serve.

As Northwest farmers and homeowners, fishermen and business enterprises, timber operators and political leaders confront the mounting impacts of climate change, OSU and other universities are seeking better ways to lend support and ease transitions.

Two new regional climate centers will apply research to resource management issues faced by the general public and policymakers. With funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Pacific Northwest Climate Decision Support Consortium will bring together faculty from the universities of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Boise State, as well as Oregon Sea Grant and extension services, to meet the climate-related needs of businesses, governments, tribes and non-governmental organizations.

One of 11 regional groups, the program — Regional Integrated Sciences Assessments (RISA) — will help “to realign our nation’s climate research to better serve society,” according to NOAA.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Interior has established a new Climate Science Center with OSU, the University of Washington and the University of Idaho to assist state and federal agencies.

“It is the agencies that create action plans to adapt to climate change,” said Phil Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at OSU and a leader in both of the new regional centers. “What the Climate Science Center will do is provide the science needed to help the agencies make the best decisions. There also is a role for training students on climate change-related issues and preparing them to work in the organizations the center will serve.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/03/osu-marine-science-by-the-numbers/feed/0Smooth Sailinghttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/03/smooth-sailing/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/03/smooth-sailing/#commentsFri, 04 Mar 2011 00:27:02 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=283Oregon has become an international center for ocean research

For the past decade, Oregon State University has boasted an oceanography program ranked among the top five in the nation, and its broad spectrum of marine and coastal research has an international reputation that few institutions can match.

Federal agencies are funding OSU research on tsunamis, marine ecosystems, wave energy, ocean observing, invasive species and acidification, among other things. In September 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy created a Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, further cementing the university’s leadership in wave energy and bringing to $13 million the total amount of funding for the initiative. Researchers are looking at environmental (how will marine organisms respond to subsurface electrical fields?) and technical (what engineered systems will be most effective?) questions and collaborating with state agencies, communities and the private sector.

National Leadership

In 2009, OSU zoology professor Jane Lubchenco became administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — the second OSU faculty member to hold that position after John Byrne in the 1980s, who later became president of OSU. In addition, Kelly Falkner, former professor in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS), now leads the National Science Foundation’s polar research programs. Her COAS colleagues have made similar contributions: Professor Mike Freilich heads NASA’s Earth Science Division; Mark Abbott, dean of the college, is a member of the National Science Board, which oversees the NSF and advises Congress and the president; and Emeritus Professor Tim Cowles directs the national Ocean Observatories Initiative. (See “Run Silent, Run Deep” on Terra)

In August 2009, NOAA announced that it would move its Pacific Fleet operations from Seattle to Newport to be adjacent to OSU’s Hatfield Center, a stunning economic boon for the mid-Oregon coast that will bring as many as 175 NOAA employees, a half-dozen ships and an annual economic impact in the tens of millions.
Ocean Observing

Shortly after that, NSF announced that OSU would be one of the lead institutions on a $386.4 million Ocean Observatories Initiative that, among other things, will establish a system of surface moorings, seafloor platforms and undersea gliders to monitor the ocean — with a major presence off Newport.

“Oregon State University has perhaps more breadth and depth in marine and coastal science than anyone, and that opens up a lot of doors,” says Abbott. “In addition to expertise in many different disciplines, we provide fundamental science, research with direct application, and now we’re providing new access to the ocean through ships, satellites, the Ocean Observatories Initiative, gliders, the Marine Mammal Institute and other programs — and we do it on a global scale.”

“Sea Cow College”

OSU’s emergence as a force in marine and ocean sciences has been in the works for decades. The university came of age as an agricultural institution, developed the top-ranked forestry program in the country, and toward the end of the last century, became an emerging force in engineering. Marine sciences got some recognition, such as when OSU oceanographers discovered the first documented undersea hydrothermal vents and when John Byrne was named NOAA administrator.

But no one ever accused OSU of being a sea cow college. “We’ve always been the light under the bushel basket,” says Abbott. “Face it, fundamental science isn’t necessarily sexy. But more and more people are beginning to notice Oregon State because of the volume of high-quality research, our federal leadership, the emergence of programs with applications to real-world problems and that confluence of recent major events.”

Oceanography began at OSU in the late 1950s under the leadership of Wayne Burt, but its reach was limited by poor facilities and little access to the ocean. The 16-foot fiberglass boat Burt used in those early days was restricted to Yaquina Bay, and it wasn’t until the Office of Naval Research provided a sea-going 80-foot research vessel called the Acona in 1961 that the university was able to attract new ocean scientists, says Byrne.

The R/V Yaquina followed in 1964, and a year later, OSU opened the Hatfield Marine Science Center as a research, education and outreach facility. As both HMSC and COAS grew, the university developed marine science strengths in other areas — marine ecology, fisheries and wildlife, the nationally recognized Oregon Sea Grant program, wave energy, tsunamis and others.

The growth has been nothing short of phenomenal. In 2008-09, Oregon State University spent nearly $100 million on ocean and coastal research — 37 percent of all OSU research expenditures. And a funny thing happened along the way. Fundamental science has become — if not sexy — at least necessary in the eyes of the public. When the oil tanker New Carissa sank near Coos Bay in 1999, OSU physical oceanographers explained where the currents would carry the spilled oil. When the Pacific Ocean off Oregon was first plagued by low-oxygen areas that led to periodic marine “dead zones” in 2001-02, an interdisciplinary team of OSU researchers described the phenomenon and explained its origins.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people drew comparisons with Oregon’s own Cascadia Subduction Zone and brought the university’s researchers into the spotlight. OSU’s O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory includes one of the world’s foremost tsunami wave basins.

In 2010, as British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon well continued to spew oil into the Gulf of Mexico, OSU researchers were documenting the effects. Kim Anderson of OSU’s Superfund Research Program established a sensor network to monitor PAHs (petroleum-based compounds) in the air and water. Bruce Mate, director of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, led efforts to monitor sperm whale movements. Stephen Brandt, director of Oregon Sea Grant, conducted his sixth assessment of fish habitat in the northern Gulf “dead zone.”

The strength of OSU’s expertise gained additional recognition this year when COAS scientist Kelly Benoit-Bird received a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, which carried a $500,000 grant for her research. She specializes in the use of acoustics to study marine ecology. (See “Genius of the Sea”)

Today, Oregon Sea Grant Director Stephen Brandt leads OSU’s Marine Council, which aims to enhance and to coordinate a global research enterprise. With scientists conducting studies from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific, Oregon State’s leadership in international ocean science is literal.

_______________________________

An earlier version of this story, “Powered by Oceans,” appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of the Oregon Stater magazine.

For information about supporting research and teaching through faculty endowments, contact the Oregon State University Foundation, 1-800-354-7281 or visit CampaignforOSU.org.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/03/smooth-sailing/feed/0Opportunity for Educators in Your Districthttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/02/opportunity-for-educators-in-your-district/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/03/02/opportunity-for-educators-in-your-district/#commentsThu, 03 Mar 2011 01:05:36 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=269The 4-H Wildlife Stewards Program will be holding a training on Saturday, March 5.

The 4-H Wildlife Stewards Program will be holding a training on Saturday, March 5. This class will explore outdoor youth education opportunities focusing on the specific habitat of Wetlands and Wet Prairies. This workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cheldelin Middle School and Jackson Frazier Wetland in Corvallis. Cost is $10 and includes instruction, lunch, an Educator’s Guide on Wetlands and a discount on Ecology Field Cards. This training is meant to be beneficial to classroom and informal educators; (after school programs, scouts, etc.), 4-H Wildlife Stewards, natural resource agency educators, and others that work with youth. Preregister by phone or in person by contacting the OSU Extension Service of Benton County at 541-766-6750 or 1849 NW 9th Street, Corvallis.

Photo: Vaidahi Patel, 23, a second year pharmacy student at Oregon State University, helps Corvallis high school junior Isabel Goñi-McAteer, 16, measure mineral oil for the lip balm they made Wednesday evening at Saturday Academy. (Andy Cripe/Gazette-Times)

Ana Berst and Isabel Goñi-McAteer weren’t total strangers when they paired up as partners for a lip balm-making lab in the Pharmacy Building on the Oregon State University campus Wednesday afternoon.

AWSEM — Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering and Math — is running six sessions this winter in two groups for middle- and high-school students. The middle school group, made up of 25 sixth- through eighth-graders, meets on Tuesdays in January and February, while the high school group, in its first year as an AWSEM program, meets Wednesdays.

Both age groups already have taken tours of OSU’s Wave Lab, Energy Center and College of Veterinary Medicine in earlier sessions.

Launched in 1986, OSU’s Saturday Academy has provided pre-college science programs that have since morphed into summer and after-school activities, such as Wednesday’s lab.

All OSU pharmacy students do the same lip balm-making lab in their first year, and several pharmacy students were on hand to assist with the lab, along with members of Sigma Delta Omega science sorority.

The first step for the students was to measure two grams of beeswax on an electric scale.

“Yes!” Ana and Isabel shouted in unison when their first measurement landed at the right amount.

The two melted the beeswax, petrolatum and carnauba oil over a hot plate and carefully added other chemicals with a syringe.

The final step was to agree on the flavors for the lip balm; not easy. Choices included cinnamon, peppermint and almond. The right combination could make or break the all-important lip balm flavor.

Ultimately, two drops each of lemon and lime flavoring went into the lip balm mixture. They carefully poured the hot liquid into five-gram lip balm containers and placed them in an ice bath to cool. They’d be ready to soothe the lips in less than 30 minutes.

Cathy Law, the interim director of Saturday Academy, explained that AWSEM paired pre-college-aged girls with peer mentors who were recruited Wednesday from among pharmacy students and sorority volunteers. The goal is to encourage more young women to consider careers in the sciences.

And did the experiment persuade the young participants that science would be a fun career? Isabel said she’d need more time.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Concerns over the future of water in the American West have prompted scientists from three Oregon universities to join together to study how climate change, human population growth and economic growth will impact water availability and use in the coming decades.

The five-year project, “Willamette Water 2100,” will use Oregon’s Willamette River Basin as a test case from which to look at different future scenarios related to the region’s water supplies. The work is being funded by a $4.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support work at Oregon State University, the University of Oregon and Portland State University.

“How climate change will conspire with population growth to affect water quality and quantity in basins around the world is the defining issue of this century,” said OSU’s Jeff McDonnell, the lead investigator on the project. “By studying the complex interactions occurring in the Willamette Basin, we hope to ask questions that will be applicable to other parts of the United States.”

The project addresses three main questions:

• Where are human activity and climate change most likely to create conditions of water scarcity?
• Where is water scarcity most likely to exert the greatest impact on ecosystems and communities?
• What strategies would allow communities to prevent, mitigate or adapt to scarcity most successfully?

In answering these questions, the scientists will incorporate policy makers’ outlooks and water users’ viewpoints into a computer-modeling tool, called Envision, developed by OSU scientists in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Science. The Envision software will be used to create a range of alternative scenarios based on future water conditions, resource management and policy decisions.

“The way we’ve always managed water is based on stationarity – the past is the key to the future,” said McDonnell, head of OSU’s Institute for Water and Watersheds and professor in the College of Forestry. “Under climate change the past is no longer a good road map for the future. Using Envision, we can take a holistic approach to the issues of water management and availability, and begin to imagine a future under altered precipitation and temperature regimes.”

The project builds on the award winning Willamette River Basin Planning Atlas, created in 2002 by researchers at the University of Oregon and OSU. By moving forward from the platform created by the atlas, the researchers and interested stakeholders will be able to visualize and evaluate management strategies for preventing, mitigating and adapting to future water scarcities.

“We have expert knowledge related to almost every facet of the Willamette Basin water system,” said McDonnell. “We can use this knowledge to develop a transferable tool capable of benefiting other basins and other water managers as they confront their own issues of water scarcity.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University students earned gold medals at the first Greater Portland Intercollegiate Debate League tournament of 2011 it hosted recently, which featured schools from the greater Portland area, including Longview and Clackamas Community Colleges.

“This was our first time hosting this local tournament,” said Mark Porrovecchio, director of the team. “It is nice to return from the holidays and be able to jump right back into competition. It is even better when former students come back and support the team.”

Kyle Bidwell of Sumner, Wash., was a gold medal winner in Open IPDA debate and the second best speaker. Kori Thornburg of Kennewick, Wash., was a gold medal winner in Novice IPDA debate and recognized as second best speaker. Loni Hartman of Albany was a silver medal winner in Open IPDA debate.

The competition squad was rounded out by Dalicia Fennell of Sutherlin, Daniel Meiwes and Ryan Ensor of Corvallis, and Jana Hodgins of Clackamas. The team was coached by graduate assistant Forest Ledbetter of Sheridan, Ore. Helping to run the tournament were alumni Andrew Leder of Albany, Morgan Mansker of Sisters, David Kubota of Forest Grove, and Dan Torres of Reno, Nev.

When Woodvillage resident, Maria, experienced a heart attack she knew it was time to improve her health. That is when she attended a nutrition education program provided by Oregon State University Extension Service. Maria discovered valuable knowledge and skills that revealed how she could eat better and improve her health. These experiences inspired Maria to work with OSU Extension to help others in her community learn how to eat healthy.

Maria teamed up with OSU Extension staff, Robin Schuett-Hames, to bring a long-term series of nutrition education classes to her neighborhood. Maria graciously opened up her home to participants while Robin taught the classes. Maria and her neighbors received nutrition and food safety classes over the course of two months. During the summer children within the community participated in fun, hands-on classes that reinforced the importance of good nutrition. Maria’s experience captivated and helped motivate her neighbors and their families to make healthy dietary changes. Today Maria and her whole family are eating a healthy diet, they have all lost weight and Maria has reduced her cholesterol.

Jose’s diabetes was out of control and had begun to affect his vision. The Metro Hispanic Nutrition Office teams up with the “La Clinica de Buena Salud”, a Multnomah County Clinic located in NE Portland to provide basic nutrition education classes to diabetes patients. Clinica Community Health Specialist (CHS) Ruby Ibarra referred Jose into OSU Extension classes taught by Lucy Lores Lezcano. Jose changed his work schedule in a local fast food restaurant to be able to make the classes a priority. Through the course of the two-month series Jose lost weight, is exercising on a regular basis, instead of eating fast food has learned how to prepare healthy meals using Extension recipes, and is now controlling his diabetes.

When Lisa Battan was laid off from her marketing position at a local company she didn’t let it slow her down. “My husband asked me if I could do anything at all what would my dream be. I knew right away. I’ve always wished I could live on a farm, to raise and care for animals and be more connected to our food. I want to give our children that experience.” But finding a farm experience in an urban area like Portland can be challenging. That’s when Lisa discovered Alpenrose Dairy in Portland. Lisa and her children began volunteering at the dairy doing chores like cleaning stalls and grooming horses.

Lisa quickly saw the joy and benefit working with animals brought to her children and was inspired to provide similar opportunities for other urban youth. Lisa began volunteering with the Multnomah and Washington County 4-H Program to create the 4-H Farm Discovery Program at Alpenrose Dairy. 4-H Farm Discovery engages urban youth with animal husbandry, animal science and agriculture while helping them understand how humans depend on farming and ranching for their daily needs.

When Matt Ferguson’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer it changed his life. “It rocked our world, my sister and I had never thought about losing our mom,” said Matt. “When my mom’s chemotherapy was over and we knew she was going to get better, my 4-H club and I wanted to do something to help other breast cancer patients who were beginning their scary chemotherapy journey.”

Matt created “Matt’s Chemo Bags” to help newly diagnosed breast cancer patients feel more comfortable on their first day of chemotherapy. Matt and his 4-H club solicit donations from local businesses for the comfort bags such as pillows, Kleenex, lotion, warm socks, silk scarves and antibacterial lotion. The generosity and hard work of Matt and his fellow 4-H peers bring warmth and support to hundreds of cancer patients.

Matt, who is a seven-year member of 4-H in Washington Countyand a sophomore at Liberty High School, was awarded The Prudential Spirit of Community Award and the President’s Volunteer Gold Service Award, a nationwide award program honoring young people for their outstanding volunteerism.

2-22-11
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The terribly destructive earthquake that just hit Christchurch, New Zealand, was only a moderate 6.3 magnitude, but had certain characteristics that offer an important lesson to cities up and down the West Coast of North America that face similar risks, experts say.

The New Zealand earthquake killed dozens – and some fear the death toll may rise to the hundreds – and was an aftershock of the much more powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck that nation last September near the same area, but caused no deaths.

Even though this earthquake was weaker than last year’s event, it was much shallower; was situated directly under Christchurch; hit during the lunch hour when more people were exposed to damage; and shook sediments that were prone to “liquefaction,” which can magnify the damage done by the ground shaking.

Robert Yeats, a professor emeritus of geology at Oregon State University, who is an international earthquake expert and researcher on both New Zealand and U.S. seismic risks, says that same description nicely fits many major cities and towns in Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia.

“The latest New Zealand earthquake hit an area that wasn’t even known to have a fault prior to last September, it’s one that had not moved in thousands of years,” Yeats said. “But when you combine the shallow depth, proximity to a major city and soil characteristics, it was capable of immense damage.

“The same characteristics that caused such destruction and so many deaths in Christchurch are similar to those facing Portland, Seattle, parts of the Bay Area and many other West Coast cities and towns,” Yeats said. “And it’s worth keeping in mind that New Zealand has some of the most progressive building codes in the world. They are better prepared for an earthquake like this than many U.S. cities would be.”

The risks from comparatively shallow “crustal” faults, Yeats said, are often given less attention compared to the concerns about the major subduction zone earthquake facing the Pacific Northwest in its future, or other major quakes on famous plate boundaries such as the San Andreas Fault. There are dozens or hundreds of faults such as this that can cause serious earthquakes in the West, Yeats said.

Associated with that is the risk of liquefaction – the characteristic of some soils, particularly sediments deposited over long periods of time, to become saturated with water and quiver like a bowl of gelatin during an earthquake. Such motions can significantly increase building damage and loss of life.

“Much of the Willamette Valley in Oregon is a prime example of soils that could liquefy, old sediments deposited during floods and coming down from the Cascade Range,” Yeats said. “It’s very similar in that sense to the area around Christchurch, which sits on sand, silt and gravel from the Southern Alps to the west. This issue, along with the risks posed by crustal faults, has to be considered in our building codes.”

The city of Portland sits astride the Portland Hills Fault – which may or may not still be active – and faces significant liquefaction concerns in many areas. Seattle faces similar risks from the Seattle Fault, which is active. And whether or not an earthquake has happened lately offers little reassurance – the New Zealand fault that just crippled Christchurch hadn’t moved in millennia.

“The damage in New Zealand in the past day has been terrible, just horrible,” Yeats said. “But as bad as it has been, it’s worth noting that it could have been a lot worse. In the earlier earthquake, as well as this one, their building codes have saved a lot of lives. If the same type of event had happened in urban areas of many developing nations, the damage would have been catastrophic.”

Like much of the West Coast, Yeats said, New Zealand sits near a major boundary of the Earth’s great plates – in this case, the junction of the Australia Plate and the Pacific Plate. Past OSU research has helped characterize parts of that plate boundary – but despite intensive seismic studies in that nation, no one had yet identified the related fault that just devastated Christchurch.

“We can learn about earthquakes and help people understand the seismic risks they face,” Yeats said. “But it’s still an inexact science, the exact timing of an earthquake cannot be predicted, and the best thing we can do is prepare for these events before they happen.”

About the OSU College of Science: As one of the largest academic units at OSU, the College of Science has 14 departments and programs, 13 pre-professional programs, and provides the basic science courses essential to the education of every OSU student. Its faculty are international leaders in scientific research.

NEWPORT, Ore. – Have you found an interesting fossil on an Oregon beach and wondered about its origin? Are you curious about what other treasures can be found on our shoreline?

Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center will hold a special event on Saturday, Feb. 12, called “Fossil Fest.” It will feature William Orr, known as Oregon’s pre-eminent paleontologist, and co-author of the book, “Oregon Fossils,” with his wife, Elizabeth. Published by the OSU Press, it is considered the definitive book on the state’s paleontology.

The Hatfield center is located on the south side of Yaquina Bay, just below the Hwy. 101 bridge. Visitors are encouraged to bring their fossils, or other beach finds, to the center on Feb. 12, and Orr will attempt to identify them.

He also will give a presentation at 1:30 p.m. at the center called “Digging up the King’s Valley Groundsloth.”

Other activities for Fossil Fest include a fossil swap and special displays staffed by the North American Research Group.

The HMSC visitor center, operated by Oregon Sea Grant, is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is by a suggested donation.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/22/osu-event-in-your-district/feed/0In Newport, surgery aims to bring relief to Aialik the sea otterhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/22/in-newport-surgery-aims-to-bring-relief-to-aialik-the-sea-otter/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/22/in-newport-surgery-aims-to-bring-relief-to-aialik-the-sea-otter/#commentsTue, 22 Feb 2011 19:38:34 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=228OSU veterinary surgeons in your district succesffuly attempt a never performed before surgery on a marine animal

The clock starts ticking Saturday at the Animal Medical Care clinic moments before 9 a.m. On the table is Aialik, a 12-year-old sea otter from the Oregon Coast Aquarium who for 13 months has been unable to urinate without the help of a catheter. On hand are local veterinarians Steven Brown and Dan Lewer, both who work closely with the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and Bernard Seguin , a surgeon at Oregon State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Together, they will attempt a surgery never performed before on a marine mammal.

Without it, Aialik, orphaned and rescued in Alaska when he was only days old, will face continued urinary tract infections, which could eventually critically impair his health and even lead to his death.

Already, the catheter has been in place far too long.

“Generally we’re trained in veterinary school that ideally you don’t have an urinary catheter longer than 48 to 72 hours, says Brown. There is always the risk of urinary infection. The catheter can become plugged. And the catheter is an irritant.”

But with Aialik a catheter has been the only option. His bladder has gone flaccid and he is unable to control it, leading to a persistent bladder infection. Doctors suspect the problem may have stemmed from a parasite infection — the same infection that killed a sea otter at the aquarium in the late 1990s, says Judy Tuttle, aquarium curator of mammals.

The doctors hope that surgery will free Aialik of the catheter and allow him to function more or less normally. But the operation comes with its own set of risks. The anesthesia could cause his heart to go into fibrillation or his blood pressure to drop — and there is always the unknown, the unexpected that comes with any surgery. The less time under anesthesia, the better the odds.

View full sizeMotoya Nakamura/The OregonianAialik wakes after his surgery. If all turns out the way it’s supposed to, the sea otter won’t need a catheter to urinate anymore.

That’s why doctors have given themselves just two hours –120 minutes — to sedate the sea otter, perform an endoscopy of the urethra, take X-rays with dye contrast and, if all goes as planned, perform the surgery.

Sound like a lot of effort for one 87.5 pound sea otter?

Not at all, says Jim Burke, aquarium director of animal husbandry. “We have a great responsibility for taking an animal into captivity,” says Burke. “We need to care for it to the highest possible level. That goes for all animals. We are their caretakers.”

Lewer gives the famously feisty Aialik a sedative to calm him, than covers the critter’s mouth with a cone so he will breathe anesthesia and sleep deeper. Finally, he intubates the sea otter, and hooks him up to an IV. The monitor signals a steady heartbeat. Brown removes the catheter — replaced five times already in the past year — and the team races inside the clinic. It’s 9:20.

Aialik lies limp on the table, oblivious to the work going on around him. A handful of veterinary technicians and aquarium staff stand by as the doctors go to work, performing their tasks without pause. Opera plays on the clinic speakers. From somewhere a dog barks, a cat cries. The endoscopy shows the wear on Aialik’s urethra from the catheters and infection; the x-rays confirm that the procedure they plan — marsupializing the bladder — should work. In layman’s terms, Brown and Seguin will attach Aialik’s bladder to his abdominal wall, then create a hole about the diameter of a pencil in the wall from which urine can leak. The hole should heal to about the size of the tip of a pen. “I’m scrubbing in,” Brown calls.

Lewer and the vet techs wheel Aialik from the X-ray room into surgery while Brown and Seguin don masks and gloves.

Brown and Seguin work in sync. They cut into the abdominal wall, then bring the bladder up to the wall and create the hole or “stoma” in the bladder. Lastly, they stitch the bladder to the abdominal wall.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/22/in-newport-surgery-aims-to-bring-relief-to-aialik-the-sea-otter/feed/0OSU’s Austin Family Business Program Launches Workshopshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/22/osus-austin-family-business-program-launches-workshops/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/22/osus-austin-family-business-program-launches-workshops/#commentsTue, 22 Feb 2011 18:54:21 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=221Oregon State University’s Austin Family Business Program will launch a series of monthly workshops for family businesses in Portland.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University’s Austin Family Business Program will launch a series of monthly workshops for family businesses in Portland.

This new “Business for Breakfast” series will address fundamental aspects of running a family business.“The family business community is ready to come together and examine some key management and governance issues in running a family business,” said Sherri Noxel, interim director of the Austin Family Business Program. “This series will be the beginning of extensive programming addressing more advanced family business issues in the future.”The series will feature networking and in-depth discussions with experienced advisers and each session will be facilitated by an Austin Family Business Program board member. Participants will learn about new resources available to help businesses and gain perspectives on issues such as governance, leadership and finances.All sessions are from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. and include breakfast. The cost is $30 per session or $100 for the entire series of four topics. For tickets or information, call 800-859-7609 or http://familybusinessonline.org.Upcoming Business for Breakfast sessions includes:

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University believe they’ve come up with a winning formula for making putting greens fast and healthy – and they have the numbers to prove it.

They examined different rolling and mowing techniques on annual bluegrass putting greens and found that golf balls rolled the farthest when the greens were mowed daily and rolled immediately afterward. The balls traveled an average of 11 feet when rolled at a controlled speed, which was 15 inches farther than on grass that was only mowed daily, not rolled.

The next greatest distance, an average of 10 feet, was on plots that were rolled daily but mowed only four days a week.

The study is important because the grass was mowed at a higher-than-normal height, which kept the grass healthy and vibrant and proves that putting speed can still be fast on taller grass.

According to the United States Golf Association, the putting greens at most American golf courses have ball-roll distances of seven to 12 feet. The organization considers a ball roll distance of 8.5 feet “fast” for regular course play and 10.5 feet fast for championship events.

A 2010 online survey by the organization found that of 227 golfers who expressed a preference on green speeds, 218 preferred to play on greens where the ball rolled between 9 and 11 feet. Also in the survey, 451 course maintenance workers out of 476 who expressed a preference said that that same distance provided the best compromise between healthy turfgrass and golfer satisfaction.

The OSU study tested a variety of treatments on 60 turfgrass plots at OSU’s Lewis-Brown Horticulture Research Farm near Corvallis. Other treatments in the study included mowing daily and rolling Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; rolling daily and mowing Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and alternating mowing and rolling.

Rolling greens smoothes the putting surface. Researchers in OSU’s study rolled plots with a 1,140-pound electric roller and an 845-pound gas roller. While both provided about a 1-foot increase in ball roll distance compared to non-rolled plots, there was no difference in ball roll distance between the two rollers.

Researchers mowed all 60 grass plots at a height of 0.15 inches, well over typical golf course mowing heights of 0.10 to 0.125 inches, said OSU turf grass specialist Rob Golembiewski, the study’s author. The turf was cut at 8 a.m. with a walk-behind greens mower. Green speed was measured at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. Distance measurements were taken using a Stimpmeter, an aluminum bar that applies a known velocity to a golf ball.

Mowing turf very short to increase ball roll distance has become standard practice, Golembiewski said, but that can potentially damage the grass. The study shows greens can be fast without being cut so short that the health of the grass is compromised, providing a happy medium between golfers’ expectations and the interests of course supervisors, he said.

“Now we’re showing you can receive ample ball roll distance at a higher height of cut, which means less stress on the turf,” said Golembiewski, who holds the N.B. and Jacqueline Giustina Professorship in Turf Management at OSU. “In the long run, that translates into a much healthier turfgrass stand.”

The findings mirror results from similar studies on creeping bentgrass, which is the most popular turfgrass used for U.S. putting greens. Annual bluegrass, the focus of OSU’s research trial, is more common in the Pacific Northwest and has been relatively unstudied, Golembiewski said.

About Oregon State University:OSU is one of only two U.S. universities designated a land-, sea-, space- and sun-grant institution. OSU is also Oregon’s only university designated in the Carnegie Foundation’s top tier for research institutions, garnering more than 60 percent of the total federal and private research funding in the Oregon University System. Its nearly 22,000 students come from all 50 states and more than 90 nations. OSU programs touch every county within Oregon, and its faculty teach and conduct research on issues of national and global importance.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/fast-and-healthy-putting-greens/feed/0OSU Student Wins International Science Competitionhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/osu-student-wins-international-science-competition/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/osu-student-wins-international-science-competition/#commentsTue, 22 Feb 2011 00:30:19 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=211Anneke Tucker, a senior majoring in bioresource research and a University Honors College Student at Oregon State University, has been named the overall winner of the second annual international competition for Virtual Poster Sessions, sponsored by the Journal of Young Investigators

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Anneke Tucker, a senior majoring in bioresource research and a University Honors College Student at Oregon State University, has been named the overall winner of the second annual international competition for Virtual Poster Sessions, sponsored by the Journal of Young Investigators.

Tucker, a native of Lakeview, Ore., won the award for a video presentation she made presenting details of her research project with Balz Frei, director of OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute, during the Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship program last summer. It was only the second time Tucker has ever spoken in front of a scientific audience.

Tucker, Frei and Meltem Musa worked on an investigation of dietary enzymes that have the potential to help patients with type II diabetes.

“What drew me to the (Linus Pauling) Institute was the direct application that the research has on human health and nutrition through micronutrients,” Tucker said. “There are many projects going on at the LPI, but I chose to work in Dr. Frei’s lab with Dr. Meltem Musa, because her investigation into dietary enzymes had the goal of reaching human trials, which was something that I wanted to be a part of.”

Tucker was the only student working with Musa and Frei on the project, which gave her the chance to ask many in-depth questions, and to learn the trial and error process researchers must go through in the lab.

Many Oregon State students have the opportunity to pursue undergraduate research at the university. For Tucker, the research gave her the chance to apply what she was learning in class to real-life situations.

“This perspective will definitely help me in the medical field, because it is all investigative,” Tucker said. “You run the tests and order the labs, but that doesn’t mean anything unless you are willing to dig deeper and figure out what is wrong with a person.”

Tucker is working on her thesis project and applying to medical school in the spring. She plans on becoming an osteopathic physician, specializing in women’s health and nutrition. She also hopes to get a master’s in public health while pursuing her medical degree.

“Ultimately, I would love to open a clinic to a rural and under-served community – which is where my fiance and I come from – and offer medical services and education regarding women’s health and life-long nutrition and health,” she said.

“I think the experience in the Linus Pauling Institute has provided me with the right mental attitude that I need in order to help tackle some of the societal health problems that rural communities are facing,” she added. “It’s probably a lofty goal, but I’m not one that is easily deterred.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/osu-student-wins-international-science-competition/feed/0OSU faculty named as finalists for 2011 Oregon Book Awardshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/oregon-state-university-faculty-members-have-been-named-by-literary-arts-as-finalists-for-the-2011-oregon-book-awards/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/oregon-state-university-faculty-members-have-been-named-by-literary-arts-as-finalists-for-the-2011-oregon-book-awards/#commentsTue, 22 Feb 2011 00:16:29 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=205David Biespiel, from your district and an instructor of English at OSU, is a finalist for the Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry for “The Book of Men and Women”

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Three Oregon State University faculty members have been named by Literary Arts as finalists for the 2011 Oregon Book Awards. Winners will be announced at the award celebration at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, at the Gerding Theater in Portland.

David Biespiel, from your district and an instructor of English at OSU, is a finalist for the Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry for “The Book of Men and Women” (University of Washington Press). Biespiel’s book is said to capture “Portland culture, neighborhoods, politics” in poetry that is about the frailties and gratitude of love and desire.

About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts includes the fine and performing arts, humanities and social sciences, making it one of the largest and most diverse colleges at OSU. The college’s research and instructional faculty members contribute to the education of all university students and provide national and international leadership, creativity and scholarship in their academic disciplines.The Oregon Book Awards is a program of Literary Arts, a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the importance of language.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/oregon-state-university-faculty-members-have-been-named-by-literary-arts-as-finalists-for-the-2011-oregon-book-awards/feed/0OSU Faculty Nominated for Oregon Book Awardshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/osu-faculty-nominated-for-oregon-book-awards/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/osu-faculty-nominated-for-oregon-book-awards/#commentsTue, 22 Feb 2011 00:09:41 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=199Oregon State University faculty members have been named by Literary Arts as finalists for the 2011 Oregon Book Awards

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Three Oregon State University faculty members have been named by Literary Arts as finalists for the 2011 Oregon Book Awards. Winners will be announced at the award celebration at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, at the Gerding Theater in Portland.

From Your District:

Kathleen Dean Moore, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at OSU, has been named a finalist for the Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction for “Wild Comfort” (Trumpeter Books), a meditation on grief, gladness, and the healing power of the natural world.

Jennifer Richter, a Corvallis resident who will be Visiting Poet spring term at OSU, was nominated in the same category for her book of poetry, “Threshold” (Southern Illinois University Press). Her book is a series of poems that explore the many facets of the term “threshold.” Richter was also awarded the C.Hamilton Bailey Fellowship, a grant of $2,500.

The Oregon Book Awards is a program of Literary Arts, a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the importance of language.

About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts includes the fine and performing arts, humanities and social sciences, making it one of the largest and most diverse colleges at OSU. The college’s research and instructional faculty members contribute to the education of all university students and provide national and international leadership, creativity and scholarship in their academic disciplines.

SPOKANE — The federal government has awarded a $20 million grant to universities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho that is designed to ensure that wheat farming in the Pacific Northwest will survive climate change.

The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will study the relationship between climate change and cereal crops, primarily winter wheat. Wheat is the No. 1 export through the Port of Portland, the largest wheat-export harbor in the United States.

The study will focus on northeastern Oregon, southeastern Washington and Idaho’s panhandle. The area produces some of the nation’s highest yields of winter wheat, which is worth more than $1 billion per year. The vast majority is exported.

“This research is important because our climate is changing, and agriculture is probably the sector that is most affected by variations in climate,” said Susan Capalbo, an Oregon State University agricultural economist. Washington State University, the University of Idaho and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service are also involved.

Researchers will use computer models to study how different farming techniques affect yields, water usage, nutrient levels, greenhouse gas emissions and the removal of carbon dioxide from the air.

Farming can contribute to greenhouse emissions in several ways. Tractors and combines emit carbon dioxide, as does the manufacture of nitrogen fertilizer and the tillage of soil, which helps decompose organic matter.

Scientists will also ask growers about their management strategies and costs, to help evaluate the likelihood of farmers adopting new techniques.

“Agriculture has traditionally been looked at in terms of maximizing net returns or minimizing costs,” she said. “But we need to look at managing the ecosystem so it’s resilient to change and sustainable in the long run.”

The region to be studied is made up of different microclimates, but in general has cold, wet winters and warm-to-hot, dry summers. Scientists predict that summers will become drier and longer in parts of the region. More precipitation may fall as rain instead of snow.

The average annual temperature in the Pacific Northwest increased 1.4 degrees during the 20th century, scientists said. It is expected to increase 3 to 10 degrees by 2100.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/21/feds-give-20-million-grant/feed/0OSU Invites Public to View New Lambshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/15/osu-invites-public-to-view-new-lambs/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/15/osu-invites-public-to-view-new-lambs/#commentsWed, 16 Feb 2011 01:42:03 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=173The public is invited to view the birth of lambs at Oregon State University's sheep barn from Feb. 15 to March 2.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The public is invited to view the birth of lambs at Oregon State University’s sheep barn from Feb. 15 to March 2.

Each year, the event draws thousands of children and other visitors, according to the sheep center’s manager, Tom Nichols.

About 130 Suffolk and Polypay ewes are expected to give birth. The public can view them from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and weekends, but the barn will be closed Thursdays and Fridays for university classes.

The ewes and lambs are used for ongoing research in animal health, breeding, feeding and grazing management. OSU’s animal sciences department and the College of Veterinary Medicine also use them in instructional programs.

Small groups may take self-guided tours.Groups of more than 12 should arrange an appointment by sending an e-mail to lambing.barn@oregonstate.edu. Because of limited parking, carpooling is encouraged.

For additional information visit http://ans.oregonstate.edu/news/lambing.htm or call 541-737-2903. Admission is free, but visitors are invited to bring a non-perishable food item, which will be donated to the Linn-Benton Food Share.

The barn is at 7565 N.W. Oak Creek Drive in Corvallis. To reach it from downtown Corvallis, go west on Harrison Boulevard to the 53rd Street intersection. Continue west through the intersection on N.W. Oak Creek Drive. A sign 1.8 miles from the intersection marks the one-lane road to the facility.

They say those who do smoke on campus create a health hazard to both themselves and non-smoker bystanders.

“Students or faculty and staff who have any kind of respiratory illness or asthma or heart conditions, even the smallest amount of tobacco exposure, smoke exposure can really exacerbate whatever kind of health problems they have,” Hoogesteger said.

“Smoke’s gross, and I think if people didn’t smoke, it’d be better for the environment,” said Jessica Hacker, OSU student and non-smoker.

Some smokers on campus understand.

“I think it adds to the cleanliness of the campus, and obviously it’s a great health concern for the public, so I don’t disagree with it,” said Nathan Pauley, OSU student and smoker.

But not everyone is happy with the decision.

“I think that it’s a little bit of an infringement of my personal liberty. (There are) a lot of establishments around here. We’re not allowed to smoke outside or anywhere near the door. Smokers have to go pretty far away to have a break so to speak,” said Melissa Bavlnka, OSU student and smoker.

Administrators say they don’t anticipate problems with people not complying.

University administrators say you’ll start to notice signs popping up around OSU letting people know of their plans to make the campus smoke-free.

It’s February and time to prune
A 16-page illustrated guide from the OSU Extension Service explains the basic principles of training and pruning apple, pear, peach, plum, walnut, filbert apricot, and sweet and sour cherry trees. It’s called “Training and Pruning Your Home Orchard” (PNW 400).

How to prune blueberries for more fruit
If you prune your highbush blueberries every year, it can make the difference between a mediocre and a bumper crop and help produce consistently high-quality fruit.

Registration Fees: Early – $495 if registered BY March 1, 2011; Late – $550 if registered AFTER March 1, 2011
(registration fee includes handouts, pilot plant project materials, and two lunches)

Course Description:
This two and a half day short course provides attendees with concepts of specialty food production, the basic fruit and vegetable processing technologies, quality analysis, and hands-on experience in making selected specialty fruit and vegetable products through pilot plant exercises.
Topics include…

The instructors have years of experience in fruit and vegetable processing and specialty foods production. The short course is designed to help attendees make the most of their expertise. There will be numerous opportunities throughout the short course to ask questions and receive input on attendees’ specific products and goals. Attendees are welcome to bring samples of the products for discussion and evaluation.
Who should attend?

This workshop is designed for anyone who is associated with or interested in getting into specialty food processing. Participants may be well-established food processors, small farmers interested in developing their own food products, or food inspectors responsible for the inspection of food processing plants and facilities. Attendees will obtain a comprehensive overview of the topics necessary to begin or work in a food processing business. This course is suitable for both entry level and more experienced individuals.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/processing-of-specialty-fruit-vegetable-products-short-course-to-be-offered/feed/0Create a garden pond for wildlifehttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/create-a-garden-pond-for-wildlife/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/create-a-garden-pond-for-wildlife/#commentsTue, 15 Feb 2011 00:25:40 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=151Of all the habitat features that can attract wildlife to your yard, a pond can be one of the most rewarding. Planning a garden pond to build in the spring can be an interesting winter project.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Of all the habitat features that can attract wildlife to your yard, a pond can be one of the most rewarding. Planning a garden pond to build in the spring can be an interesting winter project.

“Besides drinking, animals use water for feeding, bathing, regulating body heat, resting and cover,” said Nancy Allen, a faculty member in the Oregon State University fisheries and wildlife department. “In the Pacific Northwest, some of the species most attracted to ponds are raccoons, deer, dragonflies, songbirds and waterfowl.”

A pond creates natural beauty, and the more natural features it has, the more attractive it is to wildlife. Ponds can be any shape or size. They can be still or have running water or fountains. Many species are attracted to moving water, which also discourages mosquitoes.

Adding fish to the pond to help control mosquitoes, however, can be a problem when the pond overflows. Allen suggests placing bird and bat boxes near the pond instead.

An Oregon State University publication (EC 1548) Create a Garden Pond for Wildlife describes how to build a simple pond to attract wildlife and how to keep it safe and healthy and is available online.

The first step is to check with local zoning or planning offices to be sure that the pond is safe and legal. Also, check with your insurance company for safety requirements.

“The pond should fit in with the natural landscape of the land and have a curved, irregular shape. For smaller yards, a pond that is three-by-five feet is a good size,” Allen said. “A larger yard could hold a pond five-by-eight feet or larger.”

The pond should be at least 20 inches deep at the deepest part. Shallow water around the edge or at one end should include plant shelves as habitat for wildlife. One side of your pond should have a gradual slope. A good slope is a drop of six inches for every three horizontal feet.

“Keep your pond above the water table to prevent damage to your liner,” she said. “You can check the high water line in winter. Dig a small hole the same depth as your proposed pond and observe it for 24 hours. If the hole fills with water on a day with no rain, your water table is high in this spot. Be sure your pond depth is above this level.”

Plan where your pond will drain when it overflows from rain or when you clean it. You can channel water to your yard or down a hill, or you can create a small wetland to collect the excess water.

To see how your pond will look in different locations, use a garden hose or string to make an outline. Make sure you can see it from the house or from wherever you want to view it.

“Most ponds, unless they are very shallow, should get at least five to six hours of sunlight per day,” Allen said. “This allows enough sunlight for plants to grow but enough shade to prevent excess growth of algae.” Don’t place your pond directly under trees or over-hanging shrubs. Leaves can make the water too acidic for aquatic life and, when decomposing, use the oxygen and cause odors.

Also, when considering location of the pond, remember that wildlife need a “travel corridor” of tall grass to move safely to your pond. If you need to fill and change the water, place your pond near a water supply. If you plan to have running water and/or a pump and filter, you need to place your pond close to a supply of electricity.

The Extension publication gives directions on buying pumps and filters and choosing and installing a liner. Other details include how to excavate the hole, fill the pond and add edging, sand or small rocks.

You’ll find information on what types of native plants to put in – submerged, floating and marginal – and how to care for them. You’ll also learn issues about native wildlife species and coexistence with humans.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/create-a-garden-pond-for-wildlife/feed/0Safe ways to smoke fish at home (01/01/2010)http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/safe-ways-to-smoke-fish-at-home-01012010/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/safe-ways-to-smoke-fish-at-home-01012010/#commentsTue, 15 Feb 2011 00:23:08 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=146Smoked fish is unlike any other. As a salty finger food, it quickly disappears from the buffet table but can be plentiful any time of year if you have family members who love to fish.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Smoked fish is unlike any other. As a salty finger food, it quickly disappears from the buffet table but can be plentiful any time of year if you have family members who love to fish.

Salt, smoke and heat are the essentials of making delicious hot-smoked fish at home, but unless you consider one more factor – safety – food-borne illness can be a major problem and even lethal.

Explicit directions on how to avoid harmful bacteria can be found in “Smoking Fish at Home – Safely,” (PNW238) a publication of the Pacific Northwest Extension offices at Oregon State University, Washington State University and the University of Idaho, available online.

The four-page pamphlet focuses on hot-smoked fish only, not cold-smoked fish, which are not pasteurized and must be handled with extreme caution to avoid illness from harmful bacteria.

The publication warns that smoke itself is not an effective preservative under most conditions.

In fact, three parameters need to be met to ensure that the fish will not support growth of harmful bacteria, according to Carolyn Raab, an OSU foods and nutrition specialist.

Heat the fish until the internal temperature reaches at least 150 degrees (and preferably 160 degrees) and is maintained for at least 30 minutes.

Salt or brine the fish long enough to ensure enough is present throughout the fish.

Store under refrigeration at 38 degrees or less.

On the West Coast, ideal species for smoking are shad, sturgeon, smelt, herring, steelhead, salmon, mackerel, sablefish and tuna. Those with higher fat smoke faster and have better texture than lower-fat fish.

“You can smoke any fish without worrying about food-borne illness if you observe the basic principles explained in the publication about preparation, salting, smoking, cooking and storage,” Raab said.

The publication also includes a diagram illustrating the basic elements of a good smoker, and describes how to refrigerate and freeze the fish after smoking.

Only hardwoods are recommended for making smoke; maple, oak, alder, hickory, birch and fruit woods are all good. Wood from conifers, such as fir, spruce, pine or cedar, can leave an unpleasant taste on the fish.

A printed copy of the “Smoking Fish at Home – Safely” publication can be ordered for $1 plus shipping and handing by calling 800-561-6719, or order online.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/safe-ways-to-smoke-fish-at-home-01012010/feed/0Extension Service Garden Hintshttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/extension-service-garden-hints/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/extension-service-garden-hints/#commentsTue, 15 Feb 2011 00:21:36 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=143As birds crowd to feeders during the coming winter months they can spread disease. To keep the birds healthy, it's important to clean their feeders regularly and take precautions as you feed them.

Clean bird feeders can prevent disease

CORVALLIS, Ore. – As birds crowd to feeders during the coming winter months they can spread disease. To keep the birds healthy, it’s important to clean their feeders regularly and take precautions as you feed them.

“You can spot sick birds in a crowd,” said Dana Sanchez, wildlife biologist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. “They are less alert and less active. They feed less and often cower on a feeder, reluctant to fly. Sick birds are more vulnerable to starvation, dehydration, predation and severe weather.”

“Sick birds show up at feeders and other birds get sick as a consequence,” Sanchez said. “But this does not mean that bird feeding should be stopped.”

To minimize the spread of disease at your feeder, Sanchez recommends following these steps:

Give the birds enough space. If you have one feeder that is crowded, consider getting an additional feeder.

Clean your feeder and the droppings on the perching area each time you fill your feeder.

Disinfect the feeder once or twice a month with one part liquid chlorine household bleach in nine parts of warm water. If possible, immerse the feeder for two to three minutes and allow to air dry.

Feed birds only high-quality food. Moldy seed or bread or spoiled leftovers don’t do them any good.

Keep rodents out of the food. Mice can carry bird diseases.

When you see sick birds huddled at the feeder, spread the word quickly in your neighborhood.

Check your feeder for sharp edges, where birds might cut themselves. Small scratches or cuts allow bacteria and viruses to infect a bird more easily.

Keep in mind that if you practice all the procedures, you may still see a sick bird at your feeder. Salmonellosis is the most commonly spread disease at feeders and can kill birds quickly. Infected birds spread the bacteria in their droppings.

There are other diseases that affect birds typically using feeders.

Trichomoniasis is caused by a one-celled protozoan parasite. Mourning doves are particularly susceptible. The disease spreads when sick birds drop contaminated food or water at a feeder or watering area.

Aspergillosis is a mold that grows on damp feed and in the debris beneath feeders. Birds inhale the mold spores and infection spreads in the lungs, causing bronchitis and pneumonia.

Avian Pox is a virus that causes wartlike growths on featherless surfaces of a birds face, feet legs or wings. Virus spreads by direct contact, by insects or by viruses shed on food by infected birds.

Avian influenza, or the H5N1 virus, has been in the news. This disease has infected poultry and although one strain is known to infect humans, most strains do not.

“Remember, a sick bird is not necessarily your fault,” Sanchez said. “Birds die of natural causes all the time. We just tend to see them more when we feed them.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/14/extension-service-garden-hints/feed/0OSU Expands in Bendhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/03/osu-expands-in-bend/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/03/osu-expands-in-bend/#commentsThu, 03 Feb 2011 18:48:35 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=108Oregon State University celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Cascades campus this year, but the work there has just begun.

BEN JACKLET, OregonBusiness

Oregon State University celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Cascades campus this year, but the work there has just begun.

OSU-Cascades has seen enrollment jump by 11% this school year after a 20% increase the year before. But with fewer than 700 students, only 14 majors, no sports teams and just one building in Bend, it will not be easy to meet the administration’s goal of 2,000 students and 20 majors by 2020.

Vice president Rebecca Johnson says she has found a lot of local support for the campus — and a lot of frustration at the slow pace of progress. As the state’s only branch campus, it caters to transfer students, mostly from Central Oregon Community College, and has struggled to recruit students who prefer larger, more established campuses with more choices. “There was an unrealistic expectation about how many students would want to come here,” Johnson says.

The extreme bust in the Bend economy hasn’t helped either, making philanthropic money slow to flow. Johnson and her staff have launched a $7.5 million capital campaign and are recruiting business leaders to join Deschutes Brewery, Brooks Resources and Sun River in committing to $5,000 per year over three years.

The school has launched new majors in hospitality management and energy engineering management. It is also developing master’s degrees in business administration and public health.

But further expansions will require new space. OSU-Cascades has room for three new buildings, but no money to construct them.

With state support dwindling, Johnson says the private sector is crucial. She’s hoping community leaders will follow the lead of BendBroadband founder Donald Tykeson, who recently gave $250,000 to establish the campus’s first endowed faculty position, in energy engineering management.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/03/osu-expands-in-bend/feed/0Sustainable Business Oregon: OSU Excellencehttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/03/sustainable-business-oregon-osu-excellence-in-sustainability/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/03/sustainable-business-oregon-osu-excellence-in-sustainability/#commentsThu, 03 Feb 2011 18:09:28 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=96OSU is the first Oregon university to receive a gold designation from STARS

OSU gets a gold star for sustainability

Oregon State University is one of seven U.S. universities to receive a gold designation by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System — the shorthand for the system is STARS.

Administered by the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, STARS rates universities on their education and research focuses in addition to operations, planning and student engagement.

OSU joins the ranks of gold-rated schools that include American University, Duke University, Middlebury College, New York University, University of Colorado in Boulder and University of South Florida.

Corvallis-based OSU was the first Oregon university to be rated by the program. Eastern Oregon University, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland State University and University of Oregon have all begun the application process for a rating.

But shaking the first lady’s hand Tuesday during the National Mentoring Summit at the Library of Congress tops it all. During the brief encounter, Cazares told her, “Everybody from Oregon says ‘hi.'”

“She said, ‘Oh, I’ve heard it’s a really good community,’ and I said ‘Yeah,'” Cazares said.

His other impressions: She’s taller and younger looking in person.

Cazares, 18, is a member of the 4-H Tech Wizards, a mentorship program run by the Oregon State University Extension Office. The program began in Forest Grove and has since spread throughout Washington County.

Now, backed by part of a $5 million grant to the national 4-H from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Tech Wizards is set to be launched nationwide.

Octaviano Merecias-Cuevas, director of the Tech Wizards, said the invitation from the first lady came as an added surprise after he learned the Tech Wizards would become a national program. Merecias-Cuevas received the invite after returning from a trip to Washington, D.C., to train mentors from 21 states.

“I came back and was about to take my day off … then I get a call from national 4-H,” he said.

AP Photo/Jose Luis MaganaFirst lady Michelle Obama speaks during the National Mentoring Summit at the Library of Congress in Washington on Tuesday.

Merecias-Cuevas chose Cazares to accompany him at the summit because “he has been an excellent leader” during his three years in the Tech Wizards.

Through the program, Cazares spends several hours each week volunteering on nature restoration projects, and learning about science, engineering, technology and math.

At the summit, he participated in sessions led by mentoring experts and heard Michelle Obama deliver a keynote speech.

“She said that even the president and the first lady can take time out of their lives to be a mentor, and it would be important for other people to do so,” Cazares said.

The highlight of the experience, though, came after the summit, when participants attended a Washington Wizards basketball game.

“It’s my first time I’ve gone to an NBA game, and it’s really intense,” Cazares said over a cell phone, shouting above the cheering crowd in the arena.

Cazares, who was born in California but spent most of his childhood in Mexico, said an older student helped keep him out of trouble when he moved to Forest Grove five years ago. He hopes to fill the same role for his younger classmates.

“I told them in order for me to help them, they have to ask me for the help,” he said. “Mentoring is helping, but not forcing them to do good things.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/02/01/72/feed/0$5M to Fight Childhood Obesityhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/25/5m-to-fight-childhood-obesity-2/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/25/5m-to-fight-childhood-obesity-2/#commentsTue, 25 Jan 2011 23:32:18 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=61Targeting obesity among rural Oregon children is the focus of a nearly $5 million federal grant awarded to Oregon State University.

OSU Extension Service, an educational outreach arm of the university, received $4.8 million to start the project called “Generating Rural Options for Weight-Healthy Kids and Communities.” The extension program in Oregon and six other Western states will develop obesity prevention plans and conduct field tests in rural communities in Clackamas, Columbia and Klamath counties starting in September 2012. The goal is to improve body mass index among rural children ages 5 to 8.

While childhood obesity is a nationwide problem, children in rural areas have limited access to fresh, healthy foods, physical activity and recreational programs that help prevent obesity, said Roger Beachy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, who attended the press conference.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/25/5m-to-fight-childhood-obesity-2/feed/0Friday: President Ray & Chancellor Pernsteiner Discuss Changes of OUS Governancehttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/24/friday-president-ray-chancellor-pernsteiner-discuss-changes-of-ous-governance/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/24/friday-president-ray-chancellor-pernsteiner-discuss-changes-of-ous-governance/#commentsMon, 24 Jan 2011 18:42:28 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=57Excerpts from: Oregon University System can sustain positive momentum with more autonomy, leaders tell City Club of Portland – Bill Graves, The Oregonian Published: Friday, January 21, 2011, 7:17 PM “Oregon public universities are pretty much on track to bring the next generation of Oregonians to education levels never before enjoyed in this state,” said George Pernsteiner, […]

Excerpts from: Oregon University System can sustain positive momentum with more autonomy, leaders tell City Club of Portland – Bill Graves, The Oregonian

Published: Friday, January 21, 2011, 7:17 PM

“Oregon public universities are pretty much on track to bring the next generation of Oregonians to education levels never before enjoyed in this state,” said George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University System. “If we lose that momentum, it will be hard to get back.”

And the university system will lose momentum, he said, if it is forced to keep operating as a state agency with restrictions on how it manages, spends and raises money.

He and Ed Ray, president of Oregon State University, argued universities deserve the kind of independence the state’s 17 community colleges enjoy, as proposed in Senate Bill 242, since universities are getting less money from the state. Adjusting for inflation, state funding for the universities dropped 16 percent over the two decades ending in 2009 while enrollment climbed by 27 percent.

“The university system is subject to the controls of thousands, thousands, of budget line items imposed by state government even though only a minority of the funds received by the universities come from the state,” Pernsteiner said.

“Higher education’s first priority in Salem is a restructuring that would end its status as a state agency, giving universities more control over their tuition revenue and more freedom in spending their money. But in one of the country’s lowest-ranking states in state money spent per student, money is also an inescapable issue.”

“The state cannot afford a risky bet like this,” said Lane Community College student president Mario Parker-Milligan, who also is the OSA board chairman. “Especially when it does nothing to guarantee an affordable college education for Oregonians.”

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/24/friday-president-ray-chancellor-pernsteiner-discuss-changes-of-ous-governance/feed/0OSU gets $5M from Red Mill Founders to Establish New Centerhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/22/osu-gets-5m-from-red-mill-founder-to-establish-new-center/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/22/osu-gets-5m-from-red-mill-founder-to-establish-new-center/#commentsSat, 22 Jan 2011 00:41:34 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=37Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods founders Bob and Charlee Moore have donated $5 million to Oregon State University to support research on nutrition.

The money will be used to establish the Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition, and Preventive Health in OSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences. The center will support the school’s research on nutrition, childhood obesity and related topics — and promote healthy eating.

“Charlee and I are particularly concerned about the pressure on young people to eat junk: pop, candy, empty calories,” said Bob Moore in a statement. “Far too many kids are overweight, and so are their parents. It’s a very serious problem for our nation and the world. This center at OSU will help provide solutions.”

The gift will provide endowments for the center’s director and an additional professor, along with two programmatic funds to support the center’s research and outreach, including a fund focused on childhood obesity.

The gift also will create an endowed fellowship fund for graduate students who want to study, research and advance the health and nutritional benefits of whole grain foods. A final portion of the gift will allow the university to renovate the food research laboratory in Milam Hall where faculty and students will study whole grain foods and ways to promote healthy eating behavior.

Bob and Charlee Moore started Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods in 1978 in an historic flour mill near Oregon City, with a mission to promote healthier diets loaded with whole grains. Now based in Milwaukie, the company is a leader in providing whole grain natural foods to international markets.

The gift qualifies for the OSU Provost’s Faculty Match Program, an initiative to encourage donor investments in endowed faculty positions that help advance priorities identified in the university’s strategic plan. Over five years the match will provide an additional $675,000 to launch the Moore Family Center.

The donation also delivered a nice boost to OSU’s fundraising campaign, which has now raised more than $659 million. The university’s goal is to raise $850 million.

For Abbe Groh, B.S. Music ’10, it all started in Salem, Oregon, in the third grade. That year she participated in a musical play about Thomas Edison. It was love at first solo. Now Groh has recently completed her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at OSU. A student of Nicola Nine-Zielke, she sang her first opera role, Gianetta in Act II of The Elixir of Love, during her first term at OSU. That performance led to key roles over the next few years in major musical productions on campus including Yum Yum in The Mikado, Kate in Pirates of Penzance, Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, and Dr. Isabelle Snug in the world premiere musical Spin, where she appeared on stage with professional actor and Emmy winner, David Ogden Stiers.

But there have been lots of other roles in the life of Abbe Groh. At OSU, Groh made honor roll several times, maintaining a 3.5 or higher GPA. She sang in the OSU Chamber Choir for three years and was involved in several OSU Opera Workshop productions, singing roles such as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, and Tisbe in La Cenerentola. She was also the mezzo-soprano soloist in Handel’s “Dixit Dominus.” She was a music department scholarship recipient in 2008 through 2010 and in 2009 she received the Robert B. Walls Scholarship in recognition of her contribution to choral singing at OSU.

Acting on a recommendation from an acquaintance, and with no prior pageant experience, Groh won Miss Linn-Benton in 2009 and went on to become Miss Portland 2010. She has competed for Miss Oregon within the Miss America organization twice. She raised more than $2,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network, the national platform of the Miss America organization. As Miss Linn-Benton, she worked with Oregon Green Schools giving presentations about “going green” to elementary school children. As Miss Portland, she was actively involved in the SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) program.

“Being in the spotlight is risky
and scary, but it is what I love!”

Groh also has had a lot of success on the internet with a YouTube channel called “Abbegirl.” Her short, comedic videos have been viewed more than 4.5 million times combined. This YouTube success landed her an audition and a pilot episode with MTV in New York.

Groh isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Over the summer she participated in the Astoria Music Festival Apprentice Program and later took second place in the Polk County (Oregon) Fair talent show singing “The Song That Goes like This” from “Spamalot” with Scott Ingham, another OSU music alumnus. She has also been busy preparing for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in October.

So where does Abbe see herself in five years? “I might be finished with a master’s degree in vocal performance and either be participating in a young artist program or beginning my career as a professional opera singer. Or, I might be collecting millions in advertising revenue from my YouTube videos. Or both. Whichever way, my performance experience and the knowledge I’ve gained at OSU have made it clear to me that I love to be in the spotlight and it has also given me more of the confidence I need to pursue a performance career,” Groh said.

]]>http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/14/hello-world/feed/0OSU College of Education to focus on STEM, cultural and linguistic diversityhttp://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/13/osu-college-of-education-to-focus-on-stem-cultural-and-linguistic-diversity/
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/2011/01/13/osu-college-of-education-to-focus-on-stem-cultural-and-linguistic-diversity/#commentsThu, 13 Jan 2011 16:00:48 +0000http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/yourosu/?p=367College of Education at Oregon State University is moving ahead on an academic transformation.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – As its historic home undergoes extensive physical remodeling, the College of Education at Oregon State University is moving ahead on an academic transformation that will focus research and teaching in two key areas.

Education Dean Sam Stern said the college is reorganizing its programming to focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and cultural and linguistic diversity.

As a first step in this reorganization, the college has announced that Larry Flick will become its associate dean for academic affairs. Flick chairs the Department of Science and Math Education in the College of Science and his new duties will span both colleges.

Stern says this kind of cross-college collaboration offers greater potential for innovative work, especially now that the College of Science and the College of Education are part of the same division, the Division of Arts and Sciences. “I think the division arrangement offers to us huge opportunities that are very different than simply merging colleges,” Stern said. “The sooner we move on those, the sooner we can get on with doing some really interesting things.”

Though the College of Education will focus primarily on STEM and cultural and linguistic diversity, it will continue to offer its innovative double degree program and provide training to college administrators.

“The double degree has been a real success story, and so has our community college leadership program,” Stern said. “They will enable this college as it reorganizes to have greater impact in these areas.”

Flick says the move is “an investment by the College of Science in education. (Science Dean) Sherm Bloomer has voiced his interest in creating a robust STEM research program that will attract external funding,” he said.

Bloomer said this move emerged from “trying to think about what would be a sensible focus for our effort in education at OSU.”

“It’s clear that a focus on science and technology and mathematics and engineering is a pretty sensible thing to do,” Bloomer said. “We can do that in the context of some of the other things the College of Education has done in terms of their diversity work and training people for positions in public education, those can all be elements of programming. STEM is the unifying focus.”

Flick said OSU officials hope the Department of Science and Math Education’s affiliation with the College of Education will bring greater visibility to its efforts.

“We have always existed in a very comfortable and collaborative way in Science, but nobody knows where we are,” Flick said. “We will be on a much bigger platform; it won’t be just the College of Education, it will be the College of Education and the College of Science when it comes to grants and programs.

“Frankly I think that will position OSU uniquely in the country in that respect,” Flick added. “This is a very high profile kind of connection.”

Flick said he and his colleagues believe OSU will be poised to increase the number of STEM teachers it produces, which is “a huge need in Oregon and the country, for that matter.”

A stronger STEM focus provides multiple benefits, OSU officials say, including increasing the number of students who become math and science educators, and increasing the overall ability of other students in science and technology.

“If you look at workforce development assessments, what you see is that you need STEM professionals trained at a level and a depth that the U.S. is not producing,” Bloomer said. “There aren’t enough people and they haven’t been deeply enough trained.”

Bloomer said OSU is positioned to make a big difference in solving that problem.

“For us it makes sense,” he said, “because we as a university are by far the largest science and engineering institution in Oregon.”